Touch of Blue
by bradhadair12
Summary: The Heartless are more than ever, and the Keyblade Masters are nowhere to be seen. When the Keyblades leave their chosen masters and reveal themselves to a certain blue hedgehog, everything will change, and nothing will be the same.
1. Descent into Darkness

Descent into Darkness

Yo. Bradhadair12 here. This fic has been eating away at my mind for **weeks** now, so I finally decided that I'd do something about it. Think of it as an amalgamation of my two favourite fandoms! This chapter is but an intro. There'll be **lots** to come later on, including new worlds, new characters, new enemies and new... well lots of new. So, stick around! Sit back and enjoy the show as we unveil: Touch of Blue. BTW, a story related prize goes to whoever guesses all the Heartless I mention, and to the person who can figure out why the inverted Keyblade doesn't seal the keyhole! Just make it something that I can give you. Yes, you can pick the prize.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

Today would have been normal, if it wasn't for the ominous black clouds looming in the distance.

They were there when I woke up. Tails figured that the storm would probably blow itself out before it reached us, but I wasn't so sure. Call me paranoid, but something was... **off** with the clouds. Knuckles said I was making a mountain out of a molehill. I whacked him over the head.

So, I ignored them. I went about my day doing the usual: running a lot; beating up some of Eggman's latest mechanical failures; avoiding Amy at all costs. As the day went on, the cloud drew nearer. I could see shaped moving around inside the clouds, like they were **alive.** Freaky.

When the storm hit, the skies dimmed. Even the sun was reduced to an incandescent orange. The seas churned and spat and even the ground seemed to sag beneath my feet. I guessed it was time to return home.

I never quite got there.

I set off at a speedy jog, wary in case the ground really **would** give way beneath me. I could probably handle whatever came at me, but just to be sure... The grass is black and crusty beneath my feet. Looks like I was right about the storm being impending doom for us all.

I glance up at the storm above me. The clouds look turbulent and almost angry, if that were possible. The shapes within it move faster and faster, like they're dancing, and then burst out of the clouds and fall to the ground in a river of plague.

And ugly too.

I stop running, wanting to see just what I'm up against here. The darkness takes form, becoming small creature-like blobs of pure darkness. Their eyes shine brightly, scouring the area for something, their claws twitching excitedly. They remind me of rats. A few take their first faltering steps, and promptly fall over and dissolve back into darkness.

I laugh at their failure.

They hear me.

I don't make a move. I should learn about my foe before trying to rip their heads off. More fall over or are trampled into the ground by their companions. They're not very organised, that's for sure. They finally get the hang of their legs and stumble towards me. The way they move seems to suggest that they've never had real form before.

Kinda like Chaos, though I don't think the same strategies will work on them.

They pick up speed, and I edge backwards. Their claws don't look very inviting. A few jump at me, trying to latch themselves onto my legs. I give them a swift kick. They fly back in all directions, knocking into their peers and generally causing havoc.

Unfortunately, they all get back up.

They act like I haven't even touched them! At least Chaos showed some sign of **injury! **I don't think I'll be able to fight them; not without a Chaos Emerald, anyway. The nearest one is at Tails' workshop. I stick my tongue out at the creatures and speed away. I need to see if everyone is alright.

The situation possibly gets worse the further I travel. More spouts have appeared in the storm, spewing out endless creatures. The ground gives way beneath me several times, tumbling into the ocean, which grows more violent with each passing second. I barely manage to pull myself to safety each time. I hope everyone else is having a better time of this than **I** am.

Tails' workshop appears over the Horizon. It looks decidedly weather-beaten. I wonder if they'll believe me about the storm **now.** I can see a flash of red sending creatures flying every which way, but they all get back up and try to swamp him again. Knuckles really isn't going about this the right way, though I don't really want to be the one to tell him that. He sees me coming, and calls me over.

"Give me a hand, Sonic! Tails is trying to get the X-Tornado ready so we can get out of here."

A creature manages to catch him off guard and he's knocked to the floor. I race over and kick the thing to kingdom come. I offer Knuckles a hand with a smirk on my face.

"Is **this** what you meant?"

"**Not** what I had in mind when I said 'give me a hand'."

He grins himself, knowing that I don't really mean offence, and takes my hand. I pull him up in time to swing him at a couple of creatures that get too close for my liking. Knuckles doesn't look very impressed, which only makes it funnier. We assume battle stances, ready to defend the workshop. It's never going to work, but we have to at least **try.**

Knuckles and I struggle through the battle. The creatures seem unable to tire, though **we** certainly can and do quite quickly. I stop to take a few breaths and end up being flung twenty feet away from where I was before by a fat one spitting fire at me. I don't think we've just got one type of these things any more.

My head rings with the impact, but I force myself up. If I lie down they'll probably eat my brains or something like that. I can't see Knuckles any more. Just how many of these things **are** there?! God knows what's happened to Amy or Cream or anyone who isn't here right now. I even fear for Eggman, even if it is just a little bit.

The creatures start closing in on me, I try to stand, but my right leg screams with pain. I think it's broken. Trust **me** to get hurt when it matters most. I don't even have a Chaos Emerald to get me out of here. The creatures' eyes look like beacons; I can hardly make out the distinct shapes any more. They all just blend in together to create a tidal wave of suffocating darkness.

I put an arm in front of my face to defend myself, even though it probably won't stop them.

Only the attack never comes.

I open my eyes, unaware that I ever closed them at all. The creatures are backing off a little bit, afraid to come any closer to me. I'd rather have that than having them about to devour me. But, why are they suddenly staying away?

Then I notice the key.

For some reason a massive skeleton key has appeared in my hand. The teeth form a crown shape, and a chain is attached with a mouse head on it. My first thoughts are 'what the hell?' but the key must be what the creatures are afraid of. Well, I'm not complaining.

One of the creatures plucks up some nerve and makes a leaping charge. I swing at it with my key, hoping to knock it away, at least. Instead, the edge cuts straight through the creature like a knife through butter. The creature disintegrates and a glowing red heart is released. Today is turning out of be one heck of a day.

But now I can kill them, which makes it all the more fun.

I use the key to support myself and pull myself up. The creatures don't seem put off by the demise of their kin. I'm starting to doubt they can even think at **all.** Yet another advantage I can exploit, because I'm **so** good at exploiting things. I'm not sure how to hold this thing, but I hope I learn soon. I hold it in my right hand, suddenly aware at how empty and heavy my left hand seems. I look at it but there's nothing there.

Not for long.

There's a blinding flash of light and another key appears in my leg hand. The colours are the opposite of the first key: gold where there is silver; red where there is blue. The more the merrier, I say. I can think about **why** I got these keys later. For now, I can unleash hell on these things which have done the same to me so far.

I slice my way through the throng. Countless hearts evaporate into the air. I hope that's a good thing. I run across Knuckles who is being pinned down by a few ones that look like mummies. For once, I don't think Eggman is behind this. I chop the shadows off the fallen echidna, carefully not to take any of his spines off at the same time. I take a defensive stand while he picks himself up.

"Nice keys," he snorts.

"Thanks," I snort.

"Guys! The X-Tornado's ready! Hurry in here before they kill you!"

I turn to see Tails in the door of his workshop, waving at us. I get sick of waiting for Knuckles to pull himself up before we get eaten, but my hands are full. I will one of the weapons away on a whim, and the one in my left hand disappears in the same flash of light it appeared in. I grab Knuckles by the scruff of his neck and drag him indoors, where Tails and I barricade the door.

Knuckles looks like he's been dragged backwards through a hedge several times. I probably don't look much better. The only one still in one piece is Tails, though he is smeared with oil from working on the plane, making his fur look bedraggled and dirty. He sends a curious glance at the key. I shrug.

"Don't ask. I have no idea," I say truthfully. He raises an eyebrow, but doesn't question anymore. I will the second key thing away like I did the last one, and it vanishes too. Tails and Knuckles don't seem too surprised, but considering what they've seen already today, I don't think **anything **could surprise them. I help hoist Knuckles into the plane, who seems to have broken a few bones. I stand on the wing, seeing as he plane is only a two-seater.

"We're going to head to Angel Island. We need to make sure those... **things** don't get their hands on the Master Emerald," says Tails in an unusually calm voice. He must be screaming inside.

"Did you bring the Chaos Emerald with you?"

"Yeah. You'd better take it."

He passes it to me. It's the green one we found in a trench the other day. I use the energy inside to reduce the pain coming from my injured leg, and go to heal Knuckles, but he shakes his head.

"If you heal me we might not have enough energy to Chaos Control away if we need to. I'll be fine."

I don't believe him, but I know its useless arguing with him.

We fly over the battlefield on the way. The shadows have swamped **everything.** Even the land seems to be steadily disappearing, like its being eaten away. Nothing like this has ever happened before, even when the Black Arms came to say hello. It's disheartening, and it feels more and more like there's nothing we can do.

"Hang on guys, I'm going to try and fly over these clouds so we have a smoother flight."

The plane jerks upwards suddenly and we enter oblivion. It's possible **worse** inside the clouds, though I suppose we really are in 'the belly of the beast' now. The plane is thrown about from side to side as we climb higher and higher. The shapes pass so close I could touch them if I reach out from my perch. The swirls are almost hypnotic, but the clouds never touch the plane. I feel sad that I can't reach whatever's inside the clouds, but snap out of it quickly. I'd like to keep all appendages firmly attached. The plane takes a sharp turn and begins to descend. My stomach ends up getting left behind as we plummet downwards.

I get no explanation from Tails, who is probably trying to bring the X-Tornado back under his control. I just hold on tighter and pray for a miracle. We escape the seemingly endless layer of black clouds and plummet. Luckily, Tails points us in the direction of Angel Island, which is just below us. What are the odds?!

As we fall as few of the creatures rise to meet us. They look like pirates with plane wings. I manage to stop staring at their bizarre and disjointed appearances long enough to send them back to the void from whence they came. Or something like that. I just hit them with a pair of big keys, really.

Tails manages to bring us in for a not quite safe landing, but at least we're still in more or less one piece. I jump down off the wing to help Tails and Knuckles out of the plane. At least we managed to avoid the altar. The Master Emerald is still here, along with our means to summon the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. I'm not sure what use that'll be, but it's better than just sitting here and doing nothing. There are no shadows here, either. We all flop down onto the ground while Knuckles goes to invoke the Master Emerald to get rid of the shadows.

"Master Emerald! Can you hear me? There are shadow monsters attacking the planet, destroying and devouring everything they come into contact with. They come from the storm clouds, which threaten the existence of everything on the planet! Please, help us get rid of them!"

It seems to work, because the Master Emerald glows with bright white light. A beam shoots up from the gem to the clouds, scattering them briefly. A dark shape begins to appear in the middle of the Master Emerald. It swirls along with the churning Chaos Energy inside, before forming the shape of a keyhole.

"What do you think it means, Sonic?"

"Well, I guess a big keyhole needs a big key."

As I say this the silver key appears again. I look down at it, and then at the keyhole. How am I supposed to lock this thing if it's inside an emerald? My chance passes anyways, because the whole floating island tips to the side. Tails, Knuckles and I slide down the grass towards the ocean below. I dig the key into the soil and grab Knuckles, who grabs Tails. The whole island lies on its side, the trees breaking away from the ground and falling into the ocean. The Master Emerald stays suspended in thin air, glowing calmly. The keyhole is still there, but I can't reach it now. I look down at my friends, noticing the looks of despair on their faces. They seem to have realised something I haven't.

"You need to seal that keyhole, don't you?"

"I suppose so. That's why the Master Emerald gave it to us."

"If you let us go, you can still do it! Don't look at me like that, Sonic. I can fly Knuckles and I out of here while you save the world!"

"I don't like it."

"We don't have much of a choice, do we, hedgehog."

I frown. They're right, but they're still my friends, and I don't want to let them fall to their deaths. Tails isn't a strong a flier as he thinks he is. Knuckles rolls his eyes at me.

"Trains leaving, Sonic. If you're not going to drop us, then we'll drop ourselves... Good luck."

And with that he lets go.

I watch in horror as Tails struggle to fly with the extra weight. He manages a few feet before dropping the rest of the distance towards the icy water. I look away. I can't but feel like it's my fault: I'm used to saving **everyone** when I go to save the world. If I close this keyhole, then they might still make it.

I summon the inverted key and point it at the keyhole, hoping for a miracle. The tip and teeth glow brightly before sending a beam of light towards the Master Emerald. It looks like it's about to go in, but the light stops just before it reaches the keyhole and retracts into the key again. I cry out with frustration. Maybe I'm not using the right key. The only thing is, the other key is embedded in the soil. If I want to point it at the Master Emerald, I'm going to have to pull it out and fall to the sea.

And I can't swim.

I take a deep breath, and pull the key out anyway. If I'm going to die, I may as well save the world before I do.

My stomach drops as I freefall. I spin around in the air before I manage to steady myself to face upwards. The keyhole is getting further away by the second. I point the silver key up to the Master Emerald, hoping that **this** will work. A beam of light shoots out of the tip and charges at the keyhole. It enters this time, and a locking sound echoes through my head. I can't help but notice the darkness from the clouds that has already seeped into the keyhole while I was falling. I just hope I've done enough.

The water is icy cold as I hit it. It knocks all the breath out of my lungs, and freezes my joints. Its **agony,** especially seeing as there isn't a very good chance that I'll ever each the surface again. I dismiss the keys, grateful for their help. I'll never find out what they are **now!**

The water feels like its deliberately dragging me down. I force my eyes open, squinting with the stinging pain, to find strands out darkness wrapped around my legs. They pull me down deeper and deeper. My vision begins to blacked, but it's not because of the depth.

Then I remember the Chaos Emerald.

I struggle with my frozen limbs and pull it out of my quills. I half expected it to have fallen out a long time ago. The Chaos Energy inside warms my frozen body. I can't command it to Chaos Control me out of here if I can't breathe. I just hope I'm going to be OK.

I **will** it to take me to safety. It hears and the water around me begins to bubble with the heat it's giving off. I hear the water rushing away around me, screaming in my ears. I get a sense of buildings and lights before I lose myself to the light.

Just a small sleep. I'll wake up later.

...


	2. The Station of Awakening

The Station of Awakening

Chapter two. I included some bits of both the Awakening in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, because there were good bits in both of them. I liked the whole question and answer bits of the original Awakening, but the Darkside was rubbish. I could defeat it with my eyes closed. The Twilight Thorn was much more awesome, and I kinda felt sorry for all the Nobodies, because they're not going to have much of a part until really late on. Oh, **you'll** see...

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

The calmness is astonishing. No sound breaks the silence. Even the air is still. The only thing that moves is me. The only sound I can hear is the sound of the blood rushing through my veins. I never knew it could be so loud. I feel oddly warm but heavy, like the burdens I've bourn really **are **pressing down on me.

I'm standing on a huge pillar made up of millions upon millions of shards of coloured glass, forming mosaics. The darkness over the edge stretches on forever. The mosaic on the top of the pillar where I'm standing shows some dude in ugly pants holding the same key as the one I wielded during the battle. I can't decide if this is a dream or not.

A voice calls through the darkness. It makes no sound, and there isn't actually proof that it ever existed at all. It's like something is placing thoughts into my head for me.

_So much to do, so little time... Take your time._

Why? I'm not exactly going anywhere.

_Don't be afraid. The door is still shut. Now step forward. Can you do it?_

My leg isn't even stinging anymore. I take a few steps forward, trying to see where the voice is coming from. It could just be me going crazy, especially seeing as I'm doing what it asks. Three pedestals rise up from the mosaic; one carries a sword, one a shield, and one a staff.

_Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well._

What, I'm supposed to take one? Well, if you insist. I go eeny-meeny-miny-moe and end up with the staff. I pick it up. It feels warm to the touch and smooth, yet sturdy.

_The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin._

Nah. I'm more of a beat-em-up kinda guy. Besides, it sounds like magic, and magic doesn't exist. Everyone knows that! I put the staff down and go for the sword. It vibrates in my hand, like its singing.

_The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction._

That's more like it! The sword vanishes in bright light. I get the feeling I'm going to have lots of flashes of bright light on this adventure.

_Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?_

Pity, I like being all powerful. I pick up the shield. It feels cold and hard, and completely impenetrable.

_The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all._

That's the only one that doesn't even sound remotely bad! I put it back down. Looks like the staff has got to go. What's the point of this anyway? The pedestals crack and fall through the mosaic revealing the void beneath. Cracks spread through the whole pillar from the holes, and the whole thing crumbles away. I fall with it, but land softly on my feet on another station, this time with a beautiful woman in a ball gown on it. She looks like she's sleeping.

_You've gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourselves and others._

Sorry, but I had that already. I summon the keys, each appearing in both hands. Now I can get some well earned practise! Unless I'm dead: then I won't need it.

_There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong._

A few of the weird shadow things appear. Great: I can't even escape them in my **dreams! **I take the heads off a few with my big keys and the rest run away. Pity they couldn't have all done that at Tails' workshop. They meld together on the floor where the keys can't touch them and engulf the whole mosaic. I feel another freefall coming on.

I'm wrong.

The darkness pulls me in. I can feel it crawling under my skin like lice. I try to get a grip on something, must everything's turned to mush. I shut my eyes as my head goes under, feeling the darkness suddenly wash away. I'm on yet **another** mosaic, but this time with a bunch of hearts and female silhouettes on it. This dream is starting to get a bit repetitive. A door appears across from me, but my hand goes straight through it when I try and open it. A tinkle sounds from behind me, and a chest appears.

It's locked, but I've got some big keys.

I whack the chest with the silver key and it pops open. It's more fun than actually putting it in the keyhole. Like it would fit anyways. The chest opens to reveal...

Nothing. How anti-climatic. However, the door **does **become material. I open it to reveal a blinding white light from inside. **Enough** with the light thing, OK?! It doesn't open fully, which is fine because I'm quite small. The light fades away to reveal the altar on Angel Island, minus the scary storm clouds. Amy, Tails and Knuckles are all sitting around or leaning against the stone pillars. Finally, I'm scot-free!

_Hold on. The door won't open just yet._

Damn.

_First, tell me more about yourself._

This guy must live on Mars. Some days it feels like **everyone** knows who I am! How am I gonna talk to him anyways? I shrug and go over to Amy. She smiles at me, but her eyes seem dead.

"What's most important to you?"

Well, I wasn't expecting **that.**

"Umm... My friends. Why?"

"Are friends such a big deal?"

I start at her response and edge away. I don't think it's actually Amy. This must be what the voice was talking about when it said 'tell me more about yourself'. It feels important, somehow, even though I'm just answering questions. Tails comes next.

"What are you so afraid of?" It feels like I've only got a few options. I can't say water for some reason. I guess that's too obvious. These must be questions to see into the heart of you.

"Getting old. I wouldn't be able to defend people then."

"Getting old? Is that really so scary?"

That's easy for him to say. He's only eight years old. Knuckles is last. Normally he'd beat me up for ignoring him for so long, but this Knuckles doesn't even seem to notice.

"What do you want out of life?"

"To see rare sights."

To see rare sights, huh?"

Yes, Knucklehead, that's what I said.

_The day you open the door is both far off and very near._

Great, more riddles. The Master Emerald shines brightly and transports me back to the mosaic place. This time there are stairs between them, leading me forward. Each of them has the image of the boy with the key, but in different colours. This is sounding less and less like a dream as time goes on. You can't dream of people you've never seen before. I charge up the stairs, hacking away at the shadows that appear, until I reach a door. This one is already material, so I charge through it. Patience isn't my strong point.

To my disbelief, the door only leads to another mosaic. **This** one, however, seems a little different. Like there's something following my every move. The silence is unnerving. I get the feeling that something is moving behind me. I spin around ready to chop the head of whatever shadow has followed me here, and get a surprise.

A monstrous white husk pulls itself over the side of the pillar. It has thorns growing out of its back and a strange insignia on its face. It's not a shadow creature, whatever it is. This is gonna take two keys; I summon them both. The husk seems to laugh at the appearance of the weapons, but it has no mouth. It's disturbing.

At first we stand off against each other, neither of us making a move. It's only too late when I realise it's actually used it power to grab hold of me when I wasn't watching. I'm lifted into the air and pinned there by thorns. I can feel their sharp edges against my skin, but they don't cut me. The husk seems to look at me, though it has no features on its face to be able to do that and makes a grab for me.

It didn't pin down my keys, though.

I manage to move myself just enough to avoid the attack and bash it over the head. It flies backwards, standing on the darkness itself. I wish **I** could do that. Its arms become like spaghetti and lengthen out so it can grab me, even from that distance. It throws me up into the air, and as it does, releases the thorns. It brings an arm up to slam me into the ground, which I use as a means to propel myself through the air and clobber it over the head again. I'm not impressed by its strategies yet. It falls to the ground and slithers over the side. I stand in the middle of the mosaic and ready myself for a surprise attack.

The whole pillar falls to the side, like Angel Island did. I decide to use the same trick again and jab the keys into the side before I fall. The husk is standing on the bottom of the pillar, holding a massive ball of energy. It must have gathered it while I was standing around like a lemon. It lets go, shifting the pillar enough to send me flying.

It positions itself beneath me, ready to annihilate me with an all-consuming blast. I take the initiative, hoping that the inverted key is stronger than it looks, and chuck it at the ball of energy like a boomerang. It slices through it, causing a massive explosion. I get caught in the aftermath but, also like a boomerang, the key returns to me.

That doesn't soften my landing much.

Luckily, the husk takes it worse and is incapacitated. I take this moment to hack away at its head. I leave no lasting marks, but I can only hope that the keys are doing the same thing that they did to the shadowy things. It isn't long before the monster pulls itself to its feet. We retreat to opposite sides of the pillar, almost in unison. We must be thinking the same thing.

It suddenly flips over and swings its arm across the stage. I get caught unawares and sent flying. I barely manage to hold onto the side of the station and pull myself back up. The husk starts shooting thorns at me, which I find I can actually use the energy of to move myself through the air. I name you 'Reversal'!

I use Reversal to get up close to its head and hack away at it. It's much easier when you're carrying two weapons instead of one. It's a pity my left arm isn't as strong as my right. I'll have to work on that. The beast shies away from my attacks and soars into the air. I can't ignore how gracefully it moves. It's completely unlike the shadow monsters I fought before.

Then it plummets.

We seem to be doing a lot of that.

It slides along the mosaic, sweeping with its arms. I barely avoid being knocked aside. It becomes stiff, forming a living cage over my head. Numerous thorns shoot out from its head, which is dangling near the ground. It could only be more obvious if it had a sign saying 'hit me'. I use my newly-created Reversal to get close to the head, and unleash hell upon it.

It's a pity that it catches on.

It starts wrapping its head in thorns, which send me flying when I try and cut through them. Little husks start spawning and attacking me. I ignore them and focus my attacks on the main body. It's a good thing I already have so much fighting experience or I'd slip under.

The husk pulls itself back up before bending over like a contortionist. Its eyes glow an eerie yellow, and it suddenly looks more like those shadow creatures than I ever would have imagined. It suddenly springs into the air and becomes a halo. It would be holy if it wasn't so deadly. Purple light gathers in the middle of the halo, thrumming with energy.

I tighten my grip on the keys.

Thorns spew out more than ever, but with my invented Reversal, I dodge them easily. I try to get an attack in edgeways, but it's spewing out so many of the thorns that I can't get a chance to attack. I can only dodge and wait for it to return to its original form.

It does just as I begin to tire. It slides along the ground like it's been deflated before jerking back up. I'm really starting to tire now; my joints are hurting and I'm having trouble getting my breath back. I've never had such a dynamic battle before, even when I fought Shadow. The husk doesn't even seem damaged, and I've no way to tell what its health is like.

I must have caused lots of damage because it starts going berserk, like it's become desperate. It swoops around the station, belting thorns at me like there's no tomorrow. I feel them slice through my skin now and then, drawing blood each time. I use Reversal to try and catch up to it. It moves really fast, but not as fast as me! I dash up to its face, take one final look at its featureless visage, and cross chop with both the keys.

The husk screams in pain, its voice echoing from nowhere. It claws at its face with its hands, trying to tear the skin off. It's really disturbing.

It's even worse when it falls on me.

I'm flattened for a second before the creature dissolves into darkness. It feels like tar, sticking to my skin. I can't pull myself out of it. It moves like its **alive** coming to devour me. It crushes my chest. I can't **breathe.** I never knew it could be so... **heavy.** I try to reach out for something – **anything **to grab onto. I grasp at thin air, until I brush against something that feels like rough fabric. I hold on with all my might.

Whatever it is, it pulls me out of the darkness.

I get a brief vision of big ears before I fall unconscious.


	3. Aerith the Wise

Aerith the Wise

I **hated** Aerith before writing this chapter, but now I appreciate her more. I even named the chapter after her! Poor me, all alone with no reviews. DX I'll keep writing, though. I don't write for reviews: I write because I like it.

I don't own Sonic the hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

"Is he... OK?"

"What the... is he?"

"Let's... him when... wake up..."

"I think... coming to..."

I feel a gentle pat on my shoulder. I ignore it. It turns into a firm nudge.

"Mmm... Five more minutes..."

The nudges stop. I think I've gotten away with it until-

"HEY! GET **UP!**"

I jump out of my skin! I was expecting something more subtle... I blink a few times and rub my eyes to try and clear them of sleep. I'm half aware that I'm on a bed, which is much more comforting than on a mosaic with a monster trying to rip me apart.

"OK, OK, I'm up. Sheesh."

"So, you can talk, huh? Do you know where you are?"

I go to say 'Of course I can talk, you moron!' until I actually open my eyes. I'm in a strange room; one I've never seen before. I'm being stared at with a mixture of curiosity, concern and wariness by a bunch of humans. I'm definitely not on Mobius anymore.

"Uhh... No. We don't have many... humans where I come from."

They seem surprise to hear that. I guess humans must be the dominant species here, or whatever.

"Well, this is Traverse Town," says the girl in boots with a scarf in her hair. "Sorry, we wouldn't normally go to this much trouble, but we haven't seen anyone come from a world that looks like you. Just what-"

"Hedgehog. I'm a **Hedgehog.**"

"Right. It's like this. People come to Traverse Town from worlds that we're destroyed by the Heartless. Don't look at me so blankly! The Shadows?"

"Oh. Right."

I get up. I can't sit around here if my friends are here too. At least I know I can **defend** myself. But, if my world was destroyed, then what about the Chaos Emeralds? And all the people who weren't with me? The woman in red must have noticed my glum expression.

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be OK. Once we find Sora, we can restore the worlds."

Sora. That guy from the mosaic. I don't know **how** I know, but that's definitely him.

"I... saw him in a dream I had. Does he wear ugly boots and ugly pants and carry around a giant key that looks like this?"

I summon said giant key. The room collectively gasps in astonishment.

"Tell me about it. I've been feeling like that all day."

"Tell us what happened to you," demands the moody looking guy. I bet him and Shadow would get on well. Then again, I don't think either of them would get on with **anyone.**

"Well, there were storm clouds, which Tails said would blow over, but I said they wouldn't, and I was **right! **Anyway, these... 'Heartless' were they? They started pouring out of the clouds, so Knuckles, a friend of mine, helped me hold them off while Tails prepped the X-Tornado so we could escape. But, we couldn't defeat them. It was like we weren't even hitting them. You know what I mean, right? Right. So, I nearly **died,** which happens every day **anyway,** but I summon those two massive keys which **could** hit the Heartless. So, I beat the snot out of them, and then..."

I stop in my story-telling to realise that the whole room looks even more confused when I started out. I sigh and summon the other big key in my arsenal. I pass it to the moody guy, who inspects it meticulously. I don't get what the big deal is. It's a just a key.

"So, we escaped on the plane to this island that floats, right, 'cause Tails said it would be safe and we had to check on this emerald that keep the whole thing afloat. When we got there this strange keyhole thing appeared in the emerald and I locked it with the silver key. No, the **other** silver key. Yeah, that one. Then I fell in the water and I couldn't swim so I Chaos Controlled away and woke up here."

Silence.

"What? You don't believe me?"

"It's not that, it's just-"

She's cut off by a poof of smoke exploding in the middle of the room, revealing a geezer in blue robes.

"Geez, man! You scared me!" I yell. I **hate** it when people do that. Especially when they're black and emo, though this guy doesn't quite fit the bill. The guy looks apologetic and smiles sincerely.

"Sorry, my dear boy. Terribly rude of me. Now, you must be the new Keyblade Bearer!"

"The whoey what?"

"These keys that you summoned," explains the girl in the boots. I really need to learn everyone's names. "They're called Keyblades. This silver one is called the Kingdom Key. Sora usually wields it. I don't know about **this** one, though."

"Ah, **that** one belongs to the King! How it ended up with **you,** I'm not certain. He's probably looking for it. You would do well it give it back."

"Sure. Where is he?"

"Do you have inter-planetary travel?"

"Uhh..."

"I take it not, then. You need to go to Twilight Town, unless it's already been devoured by the Heartless, and talk to Yen Sid. He'll help you find the King."

"So, I'm supposed to go to a different world, give the dude is key back, which is my **only** way of defending myself from the Heartless, then get **back** here and wait for this Sora to show up and save my planet for me?"

They nod expectantly.

"**Forget it.**"

I take the 'Keyblades' back off the guy I gave them to and storm out the house. I have friends to rescue, and I'm not waiting around for some other guy to do it for me. Besides, I hate being defenceless. These guys are just going to have to get used to it.

The streets outside are covered with neon lights. The moon is high in the sky, which is completely cloudless. It reminds me too much of the Casino Night Zone for my liking. I start looking for anyone who might have made it off Mobius with me. I make a few circuits of the town before giving up. They're not here.

I find myself on the roof of a building with a bell on top. I like to sit high up when I'm thinking. And people wonder why I prefer to sleep on the roof. If my friends are all... gone... then, will this Sora help me bring them back? The guys I met this morning said he'd restore my world, but would that restore the people with it?

"I thought I'd find you up here."

I look to see who it is; half hoping it's someone I actually know. It's only the woman in red. She must have climbed up the ladder. I wonder how she knew I'd be here. She sits down beside me, her legs dangling over the edge. I sit cross-legged.

"You like to be high when you think, don't you."

"Hmm."

"Leon and the others didn't mean offence. It's just that the King and Sora have more experience at this than you do."

"I hardly believe that. I've travelled all over the universe, saving planets and those that live on them. I can run faster than the speed of sound. I'm a renowned hero back home. They even have a holiday named after me."

The woman laughs.

"Well, why don't **you** go save us instead?"

That didn't occur to me.

"If you can do all that, then it sounds like you're the one for the job. Besides, if the Keyblades picked you, then you must be destined for great things."

"... What is it with these things? What are they **for?** And how do they choose someone? They're just keys."

She shakes her head, but I don't feel patronised. She's very soft-spoken.

"The Keyblades pick their master. Only one who has been chosen can ever hope to wield a Keyblade. Sora was chosen by the Kingdom Key, and the King was chosen by the Kingdom Key D. They're the only things that can fight the Heartless and the Nobodies. We thought Sora had defeated them all, but he must have missed a few."

"A **few?**"

"A lot, then. It's also said the Keyblade can lock and unlock the heart of a world through the Keyhole. Locking a world's Keyhole stops the Heartless from devouring the heart of that world."

"But, I locked my world. How does it still not exist anymore?"

"You can't save a world that's already being devoured by the Heartless."

"Bummer."

"You probably saved your friends, though. The heart of the world has all the hearts of the denizen in it, too. By locking the Keyhole you might have locked the hearts of your friends, so they weren't devoured."

I sigh happily. So, it wasn't a **complete** disaster.

"This is the second time my world has been lost, you know," she says sadly. "The first time, I thought we'd never go back. We'd be stuck here forever. But, then Sora came along and saved us all. Now that I'm here again, I feel more optimistic that I'll go home eventually. I just have to be patient."

"... What if **I** bring your world back?"

"You'd need to find out where the Heartless are coming from and stop them. You'll have to ask Yen Sid about that."

"Hang on! What makes you think I'm going to find this guy?!"

"I can see it in your eyes. You can't resist the urge to help others. No hero can."

I blush slightly and look down. I hate it when people can read me that easily. She laughs jovially. She reminds me of Cream.

"I'm Aerith by the way."

"Sonic."

"Nice to meet you."

She offers me her hand, and I shake it hesitantly. People from other worlds have never been so trusting in the places I've been.

"You still need a way to get to Twilight Town."

"I think I have that covered."

I root around in my quills to see if the Chaos Emerald is still inside. It never falls out of there, but I can't help but be paranoid about it. I find it and pull it out. It looks even more radiant now that it's in another world. Aerith gasps and I give it to her. She rolls it around in her palms, entranced by its light.

"What is it?"

"A Chaos Emerald. There are seven in my world, but this is the only one I know that still exists. It can turn your thoughts into power, and when you bring them all together a miracle will happen."

"If they're that powerful, then they probably survived. Like you did."

"I'm not that powerful. I couldn't even save my own world."

"Maybe not, but now you have the chance to make it right."

She hands it back to me. Of course, she's right. A hero never gives up, no matter how helpless the situation seems.

"You'll find your friends. Trust me. The Keyblades wouldn't have come to you unless your heart was filled with light."

"... Thanks, Aerith. Let me know if any of my friends show up."

"How will I know them?"

"Well, they'll probably never stop talking about me. Besides, they're quite noticeable. Trust me."

She laughs, and I join in this time. The world needs more people like her.

"Take care, Sonic."

"You too."

I take the Chaos Emerald off her and draw on its power. It seems to have recovered since I last used it, because it sings beneath my grasp. Its warmth spreads up my arm making it tingle. Once it reaches my heart, I command it to take form.

And vanish.

"By the way, Merlin says 'take the train'."

Too late I realise I've forgotten to ask for a picture of Twilight Town so I know where I'm aiming for.


	4. Shifty Trains

Shifty Trains

Twilight Town and Yen Sid's crib. God, I **hate** the music for these places! It makes me feel like I wanna rip my ears off. Feel free to imagine rave music in it's place. That aside, a really long chapter, especially compared to the last three. And the next one... You didn't hear it from me! Also, a prize goes to the one who guesses what the Gummi Ship entry code is a reference to!

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

Trying to Chaos Control somewhere that you've never been before is hard work. The Chaos Emerald keeps trying to drag you off in random directions. It's hard to keep your focus on a place that you don't even know yourself. When I managed to teleport myself to Traverse Town I was thinking 'take me to safety!' as hard as I could.

This time it's a bit more specific.

I manage to keep myself on course. I struggle with the power in the Chaos Emerald until it yields to me and stops trying to take detours. I feel the familiar push of my destination as we start to slow down. I don't know how Shadow can stand to do this is much as he does. It must come with time.

I appear in a flash of light. At least I'm not in Traverse Town any more. Progress! Wherever I am, it's **hot.** It must be the height of summer. Or the wrong world. I prefer the first option. Aerith said something about taking a train, so I suppose that's where I'll start. It's **never** obvious.

A noise sounds from behind me. I turn to see what it was. I hope it's not a Heartless or one of those 'Nobodies' Aerith mentioned. I'm not in the mood to fight right now. It isn't either; just a group of astonished and slightly scared looking humans. If they can get past the fact that I'm a large, blue, talking hedgehog, they might be able to help me.

"Anyone know where the train station is?"

The humans exchange looks. I don't think they're going to be much help. They mustn't get many unusual visitors.

"It's... at the top of the hill... what...?" states the girl, sounding somewhat unsure of herself.

"Are you certain? You don't sound very sure."

"I'm sure. It's just..."

"Yes, I'm a hedgehog."

"Are you certain?" asks a boy impudently. I glower at him. The fat boy seems to snap out of it.

"We've had people come flying out of walls before, but not in a flash of light. We'll show you to the train station, and you can tell us about what you're doing here."

"Sounds like a plan. It's not far, is it?"

"No."

"You won't get much of my story then. I walk fast."

They get up. I can't help but notice the way they look at me. I had this problem the first time I appeared in the media for saving the world in my early days. Blue **is** a rare colour for a hedgehog, even where I come from. We leave via a strip of cloth hanging over a doorway, which they need to move to get past. I just duck a little. Being short can have its advantages.

"Just up the hill."

"Right."

"So, what's your name, then?" asks the girl.

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm trying to find a guy called Yen Sid. Apparently I need to take the train."

"Oh, there's a train that's said to have no driver and only comes in the evening. It's supposed to be haunted."

"Sound like my ride! So, this is Twilight Town, then?"

"Yeah. How'd you get here?"

"I... teleported?"

"You don't sound very sure," teases the blond one.

"It's a long story. I **basically** teleported."

"Why do you need to go see this guy?"

"Well, I come from another world which was destroyed by these things called Heartless. I don't see any here, so I think you're OK on that end. I need to give this key back to the King, whoever that is. Yen Sid is going to help me find him."

"A key? Is it **really** big?" asks the chubby one.

"Yeah. Have you seen him with it?"

"No, it's just a guy came through here a while ago with a big key. He said his name was Sora."

"He's second on the list. Can you tell me about him?"

"Sure. There's a place where we can talk without being disturbed. Do you have time?"

"You're not afraid of heights, right?"

"Not a chance."

"Look up, then."

I do. We're at the train station now, but this sounds more important than a visit to see some guy who might not even be any help for all I know. A huge clock tower rises out of the station. Everyone in Twilight Town can probably see it, unless they're facing the other way. At least no one will be late to work.

"If we sneak around the back, we can climb up some stairs to get to the top of the clock tower."

"Stairs? I have a **better** idea."

I take a few steps backwards, sizing up the size of this thing. I probably only need to run at 200 MPH to reach the top. I could run faster, but I might over shoot. I crouch down slightly, building kinetic energy in my legs.

"Hey, what are you-"

I'm gone in a flash. I force myself to defy gravity and run up the side of the building. The air gets thinner as I get up, which is stupid because I need more oxygen the longer and faster I run. Curse you, physical limitations. I reach the top of the tower in a few seconds. Much better than climbing up some lame stairs.

I sit down and patiently wait for the others to catch up. They'll probably be about twenty minutes, considering the speed humans usually move at, and the number of stairs they probably have to climb to get up here. There's a **lovely **view from up here. The sky seems to stretch on forever, the sun barely peering over the horizon. The air is cooler now. Not by much, but it's probably more bearable for the humans who live here. I personally like hotter weather.

The others finally drag themselves up here. They're panting slightly, probably not wanting to keep their unusual guest waiting. They flop down beside me, getting their breath back.

"Did you **have** to leave us behind? I thought we we're showing you where to go."

"I'm not the most patient guy."

"Sora wasn't either."

"It must be a Keyblade Master thing."

I let them get their breath back before I push them for details. Yen Sid can wait. Besides, it doesn't sound like he's going anywhere fast. I'm surrounded by gasping and the smell of fresh sweat, which smells different coming from a human than it does coming from the guys back home. Specifically, Knuckles after we've been through one of our conclusion-less fights. I prefer the way I smell, personally. Humans are smelly creatures.

"So, about Sora..."

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet! I'm Olette," says the girl.

"Hayner," says the blond.

"Pence," says the chubby one.

"Sonic. Now, about Sora..."

"OK, OK, hold your horses," Hayner butts in. "I got these. For some reason I felt like I should get four this morning, so I did. Looks like it was a good idea after all."

He pulls four wrapped ice-cream bars out of his pocket. Pence and Olette practically start drooling at the sight of them. Hayner passes them around; I take a few hesitant licks. It's **OK. **Too salty for my tastes.

"**Sora!**"

"OK, fine! Sheesh. Sora walked into the Usual Spot about a year ago. He had a weird duck and a dog with him. They kinda seemed like you, you know: big and could talk."

"They weren't from **my** world. I've never met them before."

"Maybe they lived somewhere on your world that you didn't go to?" asks Olette naïvely.

"I've been **everywhere. **And I mean **everywhere.**"

"If you say so. Anyway, he got on the same train you're going to get on. He came back a while later, looking for some chick called Kairi, who was the one who fell through the hole in the wall we told you about earlier. We started getting strange white creatures in town at some point, too."

"Everything just seems to blur together a bit. It was just one big adventure."

"Not for **us** it wasn't. Sora was the one who did all the adventuring."

"You're missing the point."

"Sorry. Anyway, Sora went to this alternate Twilight Town we discovered and we never heard from him again."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, just eating our ice cream.

"Why are you so interested in Sora?" asks Pence.

"I have to give him his key back."

"How did you get it?"

"I have no idea. We're not even in the same world. One second I'm getting the snot beaten out of me by the Heartless, the next second, whoosh."

I summon the Keyblades. The others look on intrigued, but not nearly as surprised as I thought they would be. They must have gotten used to keys appearing from thin air after all the Sora-exposure they've had.

"Sora only had one. **That** one," says Hayner, pointing at the Kingdom Key.

"Well, this other one belongs to the King. I think it's called the Kingdom Key D or something like that."

"Sora mentioned him too. He has big ears," says Pence, miming the shape of two round ears on his head. Sounds familiar somehow.

"Yen Sid is going to help me find them both so I can give these back."

"How do you know he's going to help you?"

"He **will.** I say he will, or else. He doesn't get a choice," I retort with force, dismissing the Keyblades.

"You're a lot less well-spoken than Sora was!" laughs Olette. I frown. Something about that statement insults me a little bit, but I'm not sure why.

"Oh, the train's only supposed to appear while it's twilight! The sun's going to set soon. You'd better get on before it leaves."

I stand up. Pence makes a good point.

"Thanks for the help – and the ice cream."

"Will we see you again?"

"Well, I think I'm supposed to be sealing keyholes. If I am, I'll have to come back to seal **this** world's keyhole. So, sure! Why not?"

"There's no point going now. The sun's almost set. You'll never get to the station in time."

"Weren't you paying attention when I ran up the side of the tower before? I'm the fastest thing alive!"

With that I chuck myself off the top of the tower.

I freefall for a few moments, enjoying the feeling that I'm flying. I eventually plant my feet on the side of the building and stride down the side. The momentum of my fall already carries me down: all I'm doing is controlling it. When I hit the ground I do a quick round of the plaza outside the station to burn off the extra energy I gained when I fell. When I've slowed down enough to not run into anyone I enter the building.

One of the upsides of supersonic speed is the ability to run past the pay point and hop on the train without paying.

I get on the train just in time; it leaves a few moments later. How time flies when you're discussing the true owner of your current weapon. The train really **is** empty: no passengers or driver. Olette was right. It's a shifty enough train anyway, with all the stars on it. Everyone is probably too suspicious to get on.

I take my seat, waiting for the train to reach its destination. I twiddle my thumbs for a while. I'm not good at waiting, and the train isn't big enough to go for a substantial jog. I play with the chain on the end of the Keyblades. They're both in the shape of mouse heads; one silver and one gold. If the King has such big ears as I imagine, then maybe this is a silhouette of him?

The train jerks slightly, like it's changing tracks, and a flash of light shines through the window. I hop up and take a look when it fades. I'm not in Twilight Town any more, **that's** for sure. It seems like the train tracks are suspended somehow, leading to an island with a tower on it. And I thought the Arabian Nights world was weird!

The train comes to a halt. I peer curiously out the door before stepping outside. I don't trust this in the slightest. Nothing seems out of place so I step out of the train. It immediately jerks away and disappears. I hate it when my ride deserts me. I take a few steps towards the tower, figuring that Yen Side has to be somewhere inside.

I stop when I see the husks.

They're like the big one I fought in the dream that wasn't really a dream. They're standing in front of the tower doors, just **staring. **Not at me: I'm currently hiding in a bush. They don't look as strong as the big one, but I don't fancy getting into a fight with them. There's too many, for one thing.

They eventually enter the tower and don't come back out. I wait for a few moments before emerging from my makeshift hiding spot. I'm probably going to have to tear them apart before Yen Sid will talk to me. Oh, it's **never** easy. I summon both Keyblades and enter the tower.

It's empty except for a spiralling stairway. I'm not impressed. First impressions are **so** important, after all. If I was as powerful as Yen Sid is supposed to be I'd at least have pictures up. There isn't any sign of the husks, so I move on. I climb up the staircase and open the door at the top.

Now **this** is more like it! I'm on a staircase that begins and end in a door which is nowhere near a wall, with no obvious room behind it. The staircase is floating miles above a churning vat of sparkling goo. If magic existed, that's what I'd say it was.

I take a few steps. I meet a few Heartless.

They're of the same type that attacked my home, but probably not exactly the same ones. Still, I can't help but feel anger towards them. Their kind **did** destroy my world and most of the people in it. I slice them apart, which is odd because the Keyblades are blunt. Maybe I should try hitting them with the teeth. I deal with any Heartless that dare stand in my presence and take the door at the top.

I end up in a room with lots of Heartless in it. Looks like Sora did a rubbish job of getting rid of them! I battle for a few minutes, taking down any that get too close. Life's much easier with two big keys to swing around. When the Heartless are vanquished the door ahead opens on its own.

I'm on another staircase. I know I've moved upwards, because I can see the other staircase beneath me. I clobber the Heartless, clean out a few rooms, and get to the final staircase, where I get a surprise.

I run into the husks I saw at the entrance. They're heading up to the top of the tower, it seems. They don't notice me, so I take the moment to chop at one from behind. They're made of tougher stuff than the Heartless: they don't die with one hit! I use my speed to run around them in circles, confusing them a **lot.** Monsters are never very smart. It makes me wonder why Yen Sid hasn't dealt with them himself.

When the creatures are vanquished Sonic-style, I finally reach the door. I don't open it, but press my ear to it. If there's more Heartless inside, then I'm going home. I don't have time for this! I hear talking coming from inside. They mustn't be Heartless or whatever the other things are: the Heartless never made any noise and the husks just hissed occasionally.

So, I barge in without a second thought.

A duck and a dog and a guy in a big hat turn to meet me.

"... Am I interrupting anything?"

The duck looks a bit peeved, but the other two don't seem too bothered. No one seems to care about anything in the worlds I've visited so far. The guy in the hat stands up and beckons me towards him. He has an aura of power around him, and I don't want to invoke his wrath, so I do as he says.

"I take it **you** are new Keyblade Master."

"I guess so."

"We have been waiting for you."

"Sorry. I stopped to get ice cream."

The duck doesn't take kindly to this. He quacks loudly and angrily before coming to face me.

"You mean we've got to travel the worlds with **this** guy?!"

"You got a problem with that, Duck Dodgers?"

"That's Donald to you!"

The dog doesn't look very happy that we're arguing. He seems like the kind to be the peace keeper. The man shakes his head and coughs impatiently. The duck jumps to attention.

"Sorry, Master Yen Sid! It won't happen again!"

"So... You're the guy I'm supposed to come talk to?"

"Did Merlin send you to see me?"

"Merlin? Is he a geezer in blue robes with a long white beard?"

"Yes, that's him. I trust you had a safe journey."

"You've gotta be kidding me! My world get's destroyed; I have to find my **own** way to travel between worlds because no one seems to have a clue, then fight my way through a whole battalion of Heartless to get here! No, I didn't have a safe journey. Thanks for asking."

"Gawrsh, I thought we'd beaten all the Heartless!" says the dog. "They just keep coming back!"

"Someone mind explaining?"

Yen Sid smiles and nods. A chair bounces over from the corner and lets me sit in it. It's getting harder and harder to convince myself that magic doesn't exist.

"I see you already know of the Heartless."

"Yeah, some guys in Traverse Town told me about it. Very rude, they were."

"But do you actually know what the Heatless are?"

"Umm..."

"To defeat a foe you-"

"Must understand your foe. Yeah, I know."

"Good. Now then." He summons some Heartless. They don't actually appear to be real, but illusions of the creatures. "When a sentient being loses its heart to the darkness, it becomes trapped within the darkness itself, creating a Heartless. The Heartless hunger for the power that hearts contain, and seek to devour the greatest heart, the hearts of all worlds. They're going about this task by devouring any hearts that get in their way to increase their ranks, including the hearts of the worlds they come across. This is why your world no longer exists."

He dismisses the Heartless illusions with a wave of his hand. He then summons the white husks I fought on the way here.

"When a person with a strong heart is overcome by the darkness, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own. These creatures become the Nobodies. There used to be an Organisation made up of thirteen powerful Nobodies, but Sora, Donald and Goofy defeated them."

"Donald and Goofy?"

"A-hyuk! That's us! I'm Goofy, and this is Donald. We helped Sora save the world!"

"That's all fine and dandy, but I still have lots of questions to ask."

"I shall do my best to answer them, but I can't promise you that I'll know all the answers."

"It's gotta be better than the way I am now. So, do you know why the Heartless are still here, or where they're coming from? This girl I met said I need to stop them."

"Well, part of the Organisation's goal was to assemble Kingdom Hearts by letting Sora release the hearts within the Heartless. However, Ansem the Wise attempted and failed to encode Kingdom Hearts as data, which resulted in an explosion within Kingdom Hearts itself, freeing countless hearts, which then became Heartless once more. That is why the Heartless still exist. Where exactly they are originating from is a mystery: one which the King is attempting to unravel."

"Oh, the King! Where can I find him? I've got his key."

"So, **you're** where it went!" accuses Donald. We're not getting off to a very good start.

"Hey, it's not my fault! It just appeared with the other one! The one that belongs to Sora, apparently."

"May I see them?"

I summon them both. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. People just can't take my word for it.

"It would appear that the Keyblades have chosen you over their original owners. They'll be wanting them back."

"Gawrsh, I wonder if you have Riku's Keyblade, too?"

"Riku...?"

"He was supposed to be the original Keyblade Master, but he fell into darkness."

"Sounds like a nice guy."

"Just misunderstood."

"So, I give these guys their weapons back. Then what?"

"That, I cannot answer, for I cannot predict the future. One woman can, however. She predicted that you would come."

"Me?"

"Specifically: One whose fur was the sea, and eyes the land. One who would connect light and dark together and end all feuds."

"No pressure or anything. You sure she got the right guy?"

"She's at Disney Castle with the King now. You should ask her when you give the King his Keyblade back."

"Great! Where is this 'Disney Castle'?"

"Hang on a second!" yells Donald. "What about the worlds?! They're still vulnerable to the Heartless!"

"Donald is right. You'll have to go to the other worlds first and seal their Keyholes, or all will be lost to the Heartless."

"Kinda like a detour, huh? I can handle that."

"You can travel with us on our ship! We can go to other worlds on it!"

"Hold up! I'm not having this guy on our ship!"

"Donald, are you forgetting? The King told us to stick with the prophesised one."

"But...!"

"Come on, ladies," I butt in. "Fighting isn't going to change anything."

Donald turns away angrily. I get the feeling it's going to be a hard job getting him to trust me fully. Yen Sid nods wisely. He was more help than I first imagined him to be.

"Before you leave, see the three good fairies in the other room. They'll give you magic."

I start to protest, but I get dragged off by Donald and Goofy. They must be more used to this kind of thing than I am. It all seems a bit far-fetched. True to Yen Sid's word, three fairies are inside the room I get dragged into. They're draping cloth over some mirrors. I get the feeling I don't want to know what's behind them. They turn and see us when the door slams behind us.

"Welcome back, dears!" chirps the red one in a motherly fashion. "Oh, but who's this?"

"I'm Sonic," says I, holding out a hand. All three take it in turn to shake it. They genuinely look happy to see me.

"Did Master Yen Sid send you to us?"

"He did. He said something about magic."

"Oh, you've come to the right place!" exclaims the one in blue. "Well get you sorted in a flash!"

I'm lead over to a chair, which I'm forced into. Trinny and Susannah would be impressed.

"Oh, how rude of us. We haven't even introduced ourselves! I'm Flora," says the one in red.

"My name's Fauna, dear," says the one in green.

"And I'm Merryweather. Now stop squirming!" says the one in blue.

"When Sora came to us, we gave him clothes that would absorb magic from his surroundings, so he'd never run out! We'd do the same thing for you, but..."

"I don't wear any clothes."

"Exactly."

"I can't even use magic!"

"Not even a little bit?" questions Fauna with a dumbfounded expression.

"Nope. Magic doesn't exist where I come from."

This causes quite a reaction. Even Donald and Goofy look slightly horrified. I almost feel bad for it. Almost; part of me enjoys winding people up.

"Are you **sure** there's no magic?"

"Positive. We **do** have something like magic called Chaos Energy. We keep it in seven Chaos Emeralds. I've got one on me now."

I take said Chaos Emerald out of my quills. The fairies pass it around, seemingly confused.

"How do they keep it all in here?"

"This 'Chaos Energy' is a mystery indeed."

"Well, we'll just have to work with what we've got. If you don't have any magic in your soul, you can't use magic to cast spells, so we can't give you any magic clothes."

"Thank **God.** Oh! I mean, what a pity."

"We can still use our magic to allow you to have better access over this 'Chaos Energy', though. It'll be like using magic, but without the magic."

"Sounds good to me."

"OK then, dear. Just hold still now."

They twirl their wands together and send magic at me. I flinch instinctively. But the magic barely touches me. I feel slight warmth, but nowhere as near as much as I thought I would. Having very little magic within me must give me added resistance to it.

When the magic dissipates, it is revealed that the fairies didn't keep their word. I have new gloves and shoes, both with straps across. Something seems familiar about them...

"I thought I wasn't getting new clothes."

"You didn't, dear. Shoes and gloves are only accessories."

"You can tell you're women."

"Now, we've also included a little feature that Sora made good use of too. When you come to fully trust your companions, you can use these clothes to merge with them, giving you extra powers and abilities. These 'Drive Forms' as we call them don't last forever, but they can give you an advantage in a fight. You'll have to wait for the Chaos Emerald to charge back up before you can use a Drive Form again, though."

"Merge? That sounds painful."

"Oh, you'll discover its uses eventually, dear. Also, as you collect more of these Chaos Emeralds your powers will increase, so you'll be able to merge for longer! Now, don't you have somewhere to be?"

I send Donald and Goofy a questioning look. It's **their** ship, after all.

"Gawrsh, maybe we should say goodbye to Master Yen Sid first? It would be rude to leave without."

How very proper. I nod, thank the fairies again, who simply beam and say that they're happy to help a Keyblade Master like myself, and leave. Yen Sid is standing this time, scanning a bookshelf for something. He doesn't turn when we walk in. However, as opposed to actually getting his attention which would be the normal thing to do, Donald and Goofy stand to attention and wait for **him** to be ready. They must respect him a lot if they do that. I just slouch a bit and look around. He could open a bits-and-bobs store with all this junk.

Yen Sid eventually turns around. What kind of a name is Yen Sid anyway? He's holding a book in one hand. He walks over and hands it to the only one of us who isn't standing to attention: me.

"This book contains many valuable secrets about the worlds and everything pertaining to them. Take it with you. You might find it comes in need during troublesome times. Now you are ready to leave. Before you can find the King you'll have to seal the Keyholes and protect the other worlds that are being threatened by the Heartless. Many of the worlds you have visited, Donald and Goofy, are already gone. It seems that the Heartless' reaches have extended, and now more worlds are in jeopardy than ever. Your travels will take you to the very reaches of existence, but I believe that you will have a safe journey."

"Yes, Master Yen Sid!"

"Sure, if you say so."

"Now, go. Give the King my best wishes when you see him."

Donald and Goofy salute and march out, taking me with them. I hope this ship of theirs has comfy sleeping quarters: I'm bushed. I'm led over to a window, out of which Goofy points.

"That's our ship over there!"

I stand in flabbergasted silence. It looks like a toy ship. I give them an inquiring glance.

"That's the Gummi Ship," says Donald, as if that explains everything. "We can fly to other worlds on it. A guy named Geppetto designed it for us."

"And you're **sure** it can fly?"

"Come with us. We'll show you!"

We descend the endless stairs to the bottom, so maybe they're not as endless as I made them sound. The Gummi Ship is waiting outside where the train used to be. I wonder how I never noticed it before. Goofy puts a code into a panel on the side and a door opens.

"The code's 42002, by the way."

"Does that represent anything?"

"It might. I'm not sure. We didn't pick it."

The inside of the Gummi Ship is spacious enough. There's room for three captains and computers everywhere. The highest chair has a wheel in front of it like the ones you find on ships. I'll take that one, seeing as I don't know how to use the rest of the equipment.

The rest of the ship is taken up by sleeping quarters, a small kitchen and a bathroom. Not quite as luxurious as I wanted it to be, but it'll have to do, I suppose. I can't go Chaos Controlling to foreign worlds all the time.

Donald and Goofy take their places at the two chairs nearest the front. I plonk myself down on the chair I called dibs on earlier. A video link appears on one of the screens, showing two small chipmunks. You know what kind of day you're having when your method of transport is a toy ship piloted by chipmunks.

"Ready to launch, captains?"

"Roger that!"

The ship judders a bit before taking off. I'm secretly surprised that this thing could ever get off the ground. I don't say this, however, as the fairies said something about extra powers coming when we all fully trust each other, and if I keep insulting this duck I don't think he'll **ever** warm up to me. I mustn't be what he expected. I never am.

Once we're in the air, Goofy sets it on auto-pilot, which is weird as we don't actually have a destination yet. He must've figured that I didn't understand what he was doing.

"This'll lock onto the nearest world and take us straight there. We can relax for now. We just have to keep an eye open for any Heartless ships out there."

"Should you get some rest? When was the last time you slept?"

"Are you kidding?! I'm going on an adventure like no other! I'm too pumped to sleep! Besides, I'm a hedgehog. I sleep better during the day, and that world over yonder doesn't look like it's in high noon."

A world gets closer and closer. It appears on one of the screens in a more focused resolution. Looks like a castle, or a palace of some sort. Strange. I thought the worlds would be bigger.

"Oh, that's Beast's Castle! We went there a year ago with Sora. I wonder how the Beast's doing?"

"Well, looks like we're gonna find out. We need to seal that Keyhole. If you've been before, you know where the Keyhole is, right?"

"Uhh... Not quite. We never **found** the Keyhole when we came. We never needed to."

"Great. More work for us."

The Gummi Ship starts to come down for a landing. Even when we're this far away I can still slightly hear the roars of the Beast inside. It helps to have big ears like mine sometimes. I just hope that, whatever's troubling this guy, we can fix it.

It sure doesn't sound like he wants visitors.


	5. Twas Beauty

'Twas Beauty...

... That killed the Beast. **Don't** come to me saying that the Beast's Castle storyline finished in the credits of KHII. It was a **pathetic** ending, so I thought I'd finish it **properly.** This poor movie only get's one chapter, seeing as it's just the end. More or less. And the quip about Sonic being a prince is from the Sonic Underground universe, so don't complain. It **is** canonical. *Ahem* let's get on with the show!

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

The Gummi Ship lands in a wood. The trees are leafless, and look like bony hands, clawing at the moon. The snow on the ground looks like powdered sugar and crunches beneath our feet as we approach the castle. The howling grows ever louder, filled with terrible sorrow and rage.

We couldn't have picked a **happy** world to come to, could we?

"Gawrsh, I wonder what's wrong?" asks Goofy, more to himself than anyone else.

"Whatever it is, it must be bad. He sounds like he's in a lot of pain. Are you sure it's safe to go in there?"

"Don't worry! The Beast is one of our friends! I'm sure he'll take to you quickly enough!"

"Yeah, like **that's** ever gonna happen..."

"**What** was that, feather-brain?"

"..."

We continue on in silence. The castle's gates tower above us, thin and rickety like bones. I still can't imagine anyone trying to break them down: they're so big you'd get crushed by them if they fell on you. This guy mustn't like guests. I push them open. The creak resounds through the courtyard, the only sound besides the howling.

Creepy.

We cross the courtyard. It must've been beautiful once, but now the fountains are dry and twisted; the flowerbeds empty with the onslaught of winter. It makes me wonder if the different worlds have seasons at different times, or if they're all in sync. It certainly wasn't winter on Mobius or in Twilight Town.

Our way is blocked by a pair of huge wooden doors, etched with patterns that resemble roses with exaggerated thorns. It would be pretty if it wasn't the entrance to such a scary mansion. They open with a slight creak; they must have been oiled fairly recently.

"Beast?! Are you here?!"

"We've come to help! Tell us what's wrong!"

The howling stops. He must have heard. A clatter sounds from the top of the split staircase, but it sounds like metal on marble, instead of claws. The clattering gets lower down, but I don't see the owner. They're either invisible or **really** short.

It turns out to be the latter.

A rather peculiar menagerie of living dinnerware charge down the stairs, quite eager to see us. Donald and Goofy aren't as surprised as I am. We all bend down to round about their height.

"Oh, thank goodness you are here!"

"What's troubling the Beast?"

"It is Belle, mon amis. She has left to find her father!"

"What happened to him?"

"Belle's father was a prisoner at the castle for a while, before Belle offered herself in his place. The Master has a mirror that can show you anything you ask for, and she used it to check on him. He's been wandering the woods for days, trying to find his way back!"

"The poor dear, all alone out there in the freezing cold."

"Belle or her father?"

"Both. And the Master was so close, too..."

I kinds just crouch there, feeling really confused. Talking flatware, a Beast in a castle, and a runaway maiden. Sounds like something from a fairytale. A tiny little teacup with a chip in the rim comes bounding over without the slightest hint of hesitation, studies me for a bit while the others converse, and then pipes up.

"You're not Sora," he states, as if that revelation was the most important thing that had been said so far. At least it gets everyone's attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we we're so caught up! Please, excuse us, mon bleu. Lumiere is the name."

He blows out one of his candles, being a candelabrum, and offers the extinguished candle to me. I shake it. It's weird to be shaking hands with a candle-holder.

"I'm Cogsworth," says the clock, butting Lumiere out of the way. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine?"

"Oh, dear, we have no time for this! We must check on Belle! The Master is so upset," says the teapot. I never found out her name.

"Well, why don't **we** go and check on her?" offers Goofy chivalrously. "She's a Princess of Heart, so we need to make sure she's OK."

"Princess of... You know what? Forget it. We'll go check on her for you. Where did she go?"

"She most likely ran back to her village after finding her father. It's a straight run south from here."

"I **am** good at running. Just, hang tight, OK? We'll have plenty of time to talk later."

"Be quick about it, my boy! Time is ticking, in more ways than one!"

I'm already out the door by the time he finishes his sentence, dragging Goofy and Donald with me. I wonder what he meant. Everyone seems to speak in riddles; Yen Sid included.

"How fast can you two run?" I ask, while jogging along.

"This is about as fast as we can go!" gasps Donald, who is running at full force. I pity his short legs.

"We'll never make it in time! You're gonna have to trust me with this! Take my hand!"

I hold out a hand for both of them to hold onto. Goofy takes his without hesitation, but Donald seems to need to convince himself that I'm not going to throw him off a cliff before he takes his.

One of the best things about running really fast is there's no time to scream.

You can't actually speak nor do anything. All the air just gets forced back into your lungs the moment it leaves your mouth to make a noise. I've gotten around that, having run at these speeds since I could stand on two feet, but Donald and Goofy haven't had that privilege. I suppose, in that way, it was nice and quiet.

We only run for a few minutes. I'm not going too fast, as they're not accustomed to these speeds. Their bones might warp if I push myself too hard. I run in a straight line, dodging any trees and rocks that get in my way. Tripping at these speeds would be near fatal, especially in **this** weather.

I start to see coils of smoke rising above the trees; a sure sign of civilisation. I slow down gently, making sure that my companions don't get jerked around too much. When we stop they immediately fall to the ground and lay gasping. I don't think they enjoyed it as much as I did.

While they recover, I peer between the trees. We have indeed reached the village. There doesn't seem to be too much in it; just a few houses and a tavern. I can hear singing and laughing coming from inside. Humans can be so undignified. I take a glance back at Donald and Goofy to make sure they haven't accidentally died. They're back on their feet, surprisingly enough. Donald looks like he's going to throw an absolute **fit,** but I shush him. I don't think the people in the tavern would appreciate our appearances.

"Gawrsh, do you think Belle's in **there?**" whispers Goofy.

"Nah. She's a woman. I think she'll be as far away from here as possible."

"She once told me that she lived in a house all on its own. That was back when we first came to Beast's castle."

"Why did she tell you that?"

"She said she was homesick."

"And talking about it helps?"

"I don't think this is the time or place for that, you two!" quacks Donald.

"Sorry. Now, we'll have to go through the village to find Belle's house, unless you want to carve your way through this dense thicket?"

"What if we're seen?"

"We'll hit them really hard over the head. Maybe we'll knock them out."

"I'm not sure about this plan."

"Got a better one?"

"Well..."

"I thought so. Let's move out."

We step out from the tree line after making sure no one is around. I'm aware that every step we take makes noise that could bring us enemies. We sneak through the deserted streets, tensely on edge.

Then Donald steps on a twig.

"Oh! Sorry!"

To my horror, amazement and confusion, a bunch of Heartless materialise in front of us. If we don't kill them, they're going to rat us out! I summon the Keyblades, slicing through the crowd. Thunder drops from the heavens, though it only strikes the Heartless. I see Donald with a staff out of one corner of my eye, and Goofy with a shield out of the other corner. Looks like we're all born-and-bred fighters.

We dispatch all the Heartless before they can make too much noise. The sounds still echo from the tavern, so they mustn't have heard us. We behead more and more Heartless on the way to Belle's house. It makes me wonder why they're all gathering **here.**

We eventually reach the only house on its own. It's a bit crooked and lopsided, but looks cosy, especially seeing as we're all shivering in the cold. Donald climbs the steps and rings the door bell. Him and Goofy charge in as soon as the door opens, warming themselves by the fire.

"Hmm? Who are you?"

The door is answered by the woman who must be Belle. I know her name means 'beauty' in French, and it fits her too. With long brown hair, a perfect complexion, and feminine features, she makes the prefect princess. I offer her my hand, which is weird as she's a few feet taller than me.

"I'm the new guy. Call me Sonic."

She shakes my hand and lets me in. It's a deep relief after almost freezing outside. The man who must be Belle's father is sitting on the sofa, draped in several clothes, his feet in a bucket of hot water, and looking **very** frightened. He's the first person I've seen all day who acted like that towards me.

"I'm Sonic. We're just here to make sure Belle is OK after she rescued you in the woods."

That doesn't ease him much.

"Father, Donald and Goofy here helped save me when I was kidnapped. Oh, I have so much to tell you! But, that will have to wait until you're better. Sonic, pass me that cloth please."

I do as I'm told. She dips the cloth in the hot water and presses it to her father's forehead. He seems somewhat soothed now that he knows we won't hurt him or his daughter.

Goofy's hat jumps around a bit on his head, though he doesn't seem to notice. I just put it down to one of those things, like summoning a shield out of nowhere. All of a sudden, it falls off his head revealing a little teacup. A very **familiar** little teacup.

"Hi!"

"Oh, a stowaway!"

The teacup bounces over to Belle's father's lap. He doesn't seem half as frightened of him as he was of me, which isn't a big surprise.

"Why hello there, little fella! Didn't think I'd see you again."

"Belle, why'd you go away? Don't you like us anymore?"

"Oh, Chip, of course I do. It's just-"

She's interrupted by a knock on the door. Donald, Goofy and I exchange glances.

"We'd better hide! If they see us they'll go crazy!"

"Agreed. Belle? Anywhere safe?"

"Just down these stairs. And hurry! Take Chip with you."

She hands me said talking teacup, and we descend the stairs, shutting the door behind us. We seem to be in a basement, though it looks more like a workshop. There are tools and inventions everywhere. It fondly reminds me of Tails. I can just imagine him tinkering away with Belle's father. I get an aching in my chest.

Donald looks out the window, quacks loudly, and waves us over. There's a riot outside. Maybe they **did** hear us after all. It seems like the entire village has gathered outside of Belle's door, sporting pitchforks, torches and a wagon. Surprisingly enough, the Heartless are also out and about, mingling in with the people without killing them. We all exchange glances, before climbing out the window and hiding in the shadows.

"My father is not crazy!"

"He was raving like a lunatic! We all heard him, didn't we?"

This only incites the crowd. The Heartless seem to feed off all the excitement, quivering slightly. It's creepy, and I can see some of the townsfolk don't look too happy around them. We must've gotten away with sneaking through town after all.

Belle's father, called 'Maurice' by some wacko in the crowd, begins to tell stories about the Beast, which only provokes the crowd. He can't see that he's making it worse. He's picked up by a couple of Heartless wearing suits of armour and thrown into the wagon. They must be sectioning him. A guy with a big chin, who is admittedly quite handsome, sidles over to Belle.

"It's a shame about your father. I might be able to clear up this misunderstanding. If... you marry me."

Belle looks repulsed. If the Beast was so torn about her leaving, then there must be something between them. She dashes inside the house and comes out with a mirror. It must be the one that Cogsworth mentioned.

"My father's not crazy and I can prove it!" She commands the mirror. "Show me the Beast!"

The mirror must do as she asks it, because the townsfolk react with a mixture of awe, panic and fright. Belle tries to explain to them that the Beast isn't as vicious or as dangerous as they all think, but his fate has already been set.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you have **feelings** for this monster."

"He's no monster, Gaston. You are!"

"And what about the freaks the Heartless saw going into your house?"

Oops. Maybe we didn't away with it after all.

"We had the Heartless watch for your crazy father's return, but we get something **more** than that! She's as crazy as the old man! Bringing monsters into her house! They'll kill our children! We're not safe until all of them, including the Beast, are mounted on my wall!"

The crowd goes **wild.** He's managed to convince them all that, not only are Belle and Maurice lunatics, but that we're all dangerous, which we **are** if you hit us first. Gaston sends a few of his lackeys inside, probably searching for us, while the Heartless restrain Belle. She's probably been in this situation before, so I don't worry **too** much. They men come back after making lots of noise like they're throwing things about. It's a good thing we left out the window.

"They're not inside, Gaston!"

"They must have run back to the castle to tell the Beast! I say we kill them all!"

Belle looks like she's going to start crying. She and Maurice are thrown down into the basement, while the whole village storms off to make a raid on the castle. We can't leave Belle, but we can't leave the Beast. Luckily, Chip, who was hiding in Goofy's hat again, pipes up.

"I'll stay and help Belle and her father. You go help the Beast and my Mama!"

Before any of us can protest at his brave decision he jumps down from Goofy's head and disappears back into the basement.

"Well, we can't stay here. We'll have to hold the riot off long enough to plan a counter-attack."

"We'll hold them off! We can use magic, remember?"

"Donald makes a fair point, Sonic. You go to the castle. You can get there fast enough to make a difference!"

"Are you sure, guys?"

"Positive. Just go before it's too late!"

I nod and set off at a speedy jog. Not fast enough to break the sound barrier, mind; they'd hear that and come running, spoiling Donald and Goofy's plans. I pass the mob on their way to the castle, but I'm far away enough not to be seen. All I can make out are their torches burning fiercely in the night.

I can't help but feel like this is **my** fault, somehow. I suppose all heroes do when something goes wrong.

I reach the castle quickly, charging in through the gates and past the front door, locking it shut behind me. My presence alerts the enchanted objects, and I ended up surrounded by what feels like every single one of them. It's like a small army, which gives me an idea!

"Don't worry guys, Belle is fine." They all look relieved. "But we've got a riot heading our way." They all look panicked. "No need to panic: **we're** going to hold them off." They all look confused.

"How exactly will we do this, mon bleu?"

"Well, I've got a few ideas."

Trap set, we all go into hiding, waiting for the riot to arrive. They hammer down the door with a log cut down from the forest outside, breaking through our first line of defence. We don't panic; they've just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire! They all file inside, looking more terrified than ever. Except for the Heartless, who just add to the menacing atmosphere. When they're close enough...

"NOW!"

Panic breaks out. Drawers fly one, flinging their contents at the intruders. Mrs. Potts and the teacups pour scalding tea over everyone. Hat stands box their opponents, and chests swallow them. The Heartless make to steal the hearts of all the enchanted objects in the room, which I knew they would. Hence, stage 2 of the plan.

"Woo hoo! Heartless! Kiss this!"

If I was a Heartless at that point I would've turned and seen a blue hedgehog obnoxiously waving his butt at me, taunting me with his wily words. If I was Heartless I'd have tried to punish him for such arrogant behaviour by beheading him, or some other grisly method of incapacitation.

I'm too good for that, though!

I lead the Heartless away from the throng and annihilate them. True, they **are** stronger than the Heartless I destroyed in Traverse Town; these ones have been fed on negative emotions to make them stronger. Still, two Keyblades are more than a match for them.

I stick my head back in the room, now devoid of Heartless. The men are running for their lives, and I **don't **think they'll be back. Mission accomplished. Gaston, however, is nowhere in sight, and I don't think he's the type to run away from his prize. He must be roaming the castle, looking for my head.

I leave the celebrating servants. I can't let Gaston hurt the Beast. I stalk the empty corridors, looking for a sign of his presence. Maybe a fleeting shadow or the sound of his footsteps. I move almost silently, having dismissed the Keyblades to lighten my load. The sounds of cheering still echoes through the empty halls from the Foyer.

A roar shatters the silence.

I speed off in the direction the roar came from. I just hope I'm not too late. I end up in the West Wing; the sight of the Beast sends shivers down my spine. He's roaring in pain and anger, an arrow lodged firmly in his shoulder. Gaston jumps out of the shadows and throws the Beast out the window and onto the balcony. He laughs maniacally and follows him. He goes to shove the Beast off the balcony and onto the roof, but I stop him by jumping between the two.

"If you want the Beast, you'll have to go through me first!"

We eye each other warily. I can practically **see** the cogs ticking in his head. He's not the smartest of people I've ever met, Knuckles included.

"... I know you! You're one of the one's that Belle hid in her house!"

"That's me."

"Brilliant! I'll take home twice the trophies!"

The pulls his shotgun out from the straps on his back and shoots at me. My speed takes me away from his bullets, but the only direction to go in is down and onto the roof I saved the Beast from being thrown onto. Gaston and I skid down the shingles, wet with the pouring rain, and slippy too.

Our descent is stopped when we reach an archway. I stumble for my footing, my shoes not suited for running around in such wet weather. This gives Gaston enough time to grab a makeshift bludgeon from the awning and strike me over the head with it. Stars flash before my eyes. When my vision clears I'm lying down, Gaston above me, ready to strike.

"No, Gaston! Don't!"

"Come on, Sonic! You can do it!"

Belle, Donald and Goofy arrive in the nick of time. Gaston gets distracted enough to let me summon and bash him with the Kingdom Key. He rolls off and slips on the wet concrete as I pull myself up. We struggle with each other for a few moments before Gaston manages to pull himself away. He climbs up one of the turrets, trying to get to level ground where he can use his superior strength to his advantage. I follow him. This won't be over until Gaston is dealt with properly.

He tries to bludgeon me over the head again, but I block it with the Kingdom Key. This results in us **both** losing our balance and tumbling down onto a roof below. Looks like Gaston got his wish for level ground. We pick ourselves up, but don't advance on each other. We need to catch our breath first.

"Why are the Heartless listening to you?"

"Because I'm **strong,** that's why! I met them many years back, and since then they've bowed to my every whim! Of course, the villagers wouldn't approve; stuck in their old-fashioned ways. They were **mine** anyway!"

"The Heartless can't be controlled by **anyone! **They'll devour your heart!"

"I don't think so! I've used the Heartless to hunt for me, taking all the credit when they pulled in the latest kill. I might not be a good shot, but **they** certainly are, and what the townsfolk don't know can't hurt them, right?!"

"So, you're an imbecile **and** a liar!"

"You've got a smart mouth for whatever kind of creature you are. It's a pity you're covered with quills: you'd make a nice rug."

"Careful, or these quills will end up in your skin," I warn, summoning the Kingdom Key D too.

"Bring it on, freak!"

We charge at each other again. The tension in the air is thicker than ever after the exchange of harsh words. We clash again and again, neither of us gaining an advantage. He pulls out his shotgun several times and tries to shoot me. He wasn't kidding when he said he was a bad shot: the bullets miss by miles. The extra weight of the gun increases the recoil, sending him flying each time. His foot slips underneath him; the perfect opportunity to disarm him before he does any more damage.

I knock the shotgun out of his hands with the Kingdom Key, pointing the Kingdom Key D at his head. The battle is over, at least as far as he's concerned.

His face morphs from an adrenaline-fuelled grin to a state of terror. He looks like he actually expects me to be his demise. He doesn't think of me as a hero: a hero would never take his life, but spare it, so that he could grow into a better man. I crouch down to his level, and whisper:

"Get out."

The sound of doors opening permeates the air from behind me. I turn to see Donald and Goofy standing on a balcony above me, waving with triumph. Not bad for my first world. I dismiss the Keyblades, give them a wave back and start climbing the roof to get to the ledge so I can be pulled up. I need a good long bath. Not too deep mind: I don't like deep water.

I'm almost at the top when an arrow embeds itself in my shoulder.

I let out a scream of pain. It feels like my whole arm is on **fire. **For a second all I can think of is the pain, but then I realise I'm losing my grip. Donald and Goofy grab my hands, stopping my fall. I forgot I left Gaston still armed. I thought he'd have actually listened to me and left with his life. If he can just get up here, I'll kick him so hard his head will fly off.

It doesn't **quite** go like that.

He tries to climb up to meet me, unsheathing a knife. I'm almost completely defenceless here, hanging precariously off a balcony above a forty storey fall to my death. However, as he unsheathes the blade, he loses his grip. He struggles against howling winds, trying desperately to stay on the roof. He hangs for a few moments above the abyss, before tumbling down in the darkness. I don't hear him hit the bottom.

Donald and Goofy pull me up with a great deal of effort. With each tug my shoulder hurts more and more, like it's being ripped off at the socket. When I finally reach solid ground my legs try to give way beneath me, but I'm supported by the same people who saved my life.

"Thanks, guys."

Don't mention it! Not, we need to find the Beast! Who knows what state he's in?"

"Ah... To the West Wing."

Luckily Gaston and I weren't very far from said West Wing. Just a staircase below. I get half-helped half-dragged up the stairs to the chamber. Belle and the Beast are sitting on the balcony where we left him. Or should I say, the Beast is lying down. Belle is sitting. I'm glad to see that she's OK.

We stand inside the room, sheltered from the sheeting rain outside. The Beast is bleeding badly, and his breathing is laboured. I don't think any of us have the medical knowledge to help him.

"Gawrsh, can't you heal him what that there Chaos Emerald?"

"I could normally, but it's part of my clothes now, and I don't know how to access the energy from within them. I can't even... heal myself."

Speaking of people with laboured breathing.

"You came back..." whispers the Beast to Belle.

"Of course I came back. I couldn't let them... Oh, this is all my fault. If only I'd gotten here sooner!"

"Maybe... It's better... It's better this way."

"Don't talk like that! You'll be alright. We're together now. Everything's going to be fine."

"At least... I got to see you... One last time."

He stops breathing, his enormous paw falling to his side in silence. He never even got to tell Belle that he loved her. She starts weeping uncontrollably, her tears masked by the rain.

"Please, don't leave me. I love you."

The thunder gets louder. Way to spoil the moment! A single drop of light falls from the sky and lands next to Belle. She wipes her eyes and looks at the sky. More fall to join it, creating a cascade of light around the two lovers. The light seems to lift the Beast up into the sky, his cape billowing around him like a wing. The light invades every surface of his body; fur retreats and becomes hair, claws become nails, and fangs become teeth. Everything gets smaller and more delicate, until he's human again.

I certainly can't deny the existence of magic anymore.

The light grows until it covers everything in sight. I feel it warming my body, relieving the pain from the arrow. I take the moment of numbness to pull the thing out. My wound heals up before my eyes. The magic must be of the strongest healing magic. It even healed the Beast's broken form.

When the light fades, the Beast is on his feet, though calling him a Beast now doesn't do him any justice. His clothes, once fitting, now hang of his body in tatters. His hair shines like the mane it once was as the clouds part above giving way to sunlight from the heavens. The Beast who isn't a beast pats his body like it belongs to a stranger. I suppose it does, really.

"Belle. It's me!"

He takes her hand, finally being able to hold it properly. She looks surprised and afraid, but can see something in him that convinces her. He runs his hand through her hair, and she through his. They come closer and closer until...

Goofy covers my eyes.

"You're too young for this, Sonic!"

"I'm fifteen, for God's sake! Let me go!"

Belle and the Beast laugh beyond my covers eyes. Goofy removes his hands, the sunlight blinding me for a second. The weather has cleared completely. Belle and the Beast seem enraptured with each other. They kiss again. It makes my chest hurt again, though I can't say why.

And the next day a huge wedding takes place!

Donald, Goofy and I take over a few rooms for the night. When we wake up the next morning what seems like the entire aristocracy has gathered in the castle to celebrate. There is dancing, endless wine, and music that could've been played by angels. Donald, Goofy and I stay out of the way, not wanting to frighten the guests. Life can be lonely when you're from another world.

I don't actually go to the wedding. I **do** see the after party; Belle's wearing a flowing gold gown and a precious tiara, and the Beast, now more commonly known as 'Prince Adam', is wearing a silk suit and similar crown, without all the sparkle. The servants, returned to their human forms, wait on the event with impressive gusto.

After the initial rush calms down, I call Adam over.

"Excuse me, **your highness, **but I have a favour to ask."

"Oh. Sure, anything you want."

"Can I borrow your library? I need reference material."

"Is that all? You don't even need to ask, my friend."

"Thank you," I say, bowing deeply, but in a joking manner. He laughs, more light-hearted now that the curse has been lifted, and I head off to the library. I've got a lot of reading to do.

I never even find what I'm looking for!

You'd think with a library this big there'd be **something** here about other worlds. I want to know what might have happened to my friends after I sealed the Keyhole, but there isn't even a single mention of any other worlds existing. The folks here mustn't have known that there were other places out there before Sora arrived. I bet that shook them up.

"Sonic?"

I turn to see Belle in all her golden glory. I stand and bow to her, grinning all the time. She shakes her head, a smile on her face too.

"What can I do your for, **your highness?**"

"Oh, stop that! I've just come for a little peace."

She steps out onto the balcony. I follow her hesitantly; now that she's royalty the nobles wouldn't take well to an otherworldly being of the opposite gender being with 100 steps of her. She doesn't seem to mind, though.

"Shouldn't you be at the party? I thought it was rude to walk out of your own reception."

"I don't really belong in there. I'm still a commoner at heart, and even though I love Adam, I don't think they'll ever see me as anything else."

"I had that same problem."

"You're **royalty?!**"

"Only in certain places. No, what I mean is, I'm actually a hero on my own planet, though I was only seen as a guy from somewhere no one had even heard of before trying to make a show. It took a lot of good deeds and several world rescues to prove to them that I was more than that."

"Tell me about your world, Sonic. What was it like?"

"Don't get any ideas. We can't take too many people on the Gummi Ship with us."

"But, I've always wanted to go to other worlds! I've always to see what was out there; to feel the air of another world! Oh, what an adventure that would be!"

"I'm going on an adventure like that, and trust me princess; it hasn't done me any good."

"So, about your world. Does it have castles?"

"Not really. There **is** **one** huge one in Soleanna."

"What about oceans?"

"Too many for my liking."

"Deserts?"

"We have **everything,** and this world probably does too. My world is different from yours in that all the different sights are right outside of your door, really bunched up together. Here, you'd have to travel for **miles** to see any change."

"Why aren't you there now?"

"It's gone."

"What?"

"Gone. One day a storm came, bringing the Heartless with it. That's when I got the Keyblades. I tried to save the world by sealing the Keyhole, but I was too late. The Heartless destroyed my world. Speaking of Keyholes, have you seen this world's Keyhole? There's gotta be one around here somewhere."

"Have you checked the books? We **are** in library."

"Hmm... I don't know. I've just been checking for the mention of other worlds. I didn't think to check for that."

I go back into the library, feeling the daunting weight of my task falling down on me. There has to be several hundred thousand books in here. I sag. Belle laughs.

"Why don't we just check the rooms in the castle for this Keyhole instead?"

So, we do. If it was in the library, it would've responded to the presence of the Keyblade Master by now. The main hall doesn't do anything, and neither does the West Wing. When we reach Belle's room, however...

"I'm surprised you're not sharing a room with your husband. I think you have to be closer to... **you know.**"

Belle blushes furiously. Her innocence hasn't been tainted by these terrible experiences. One the wall is a picture of a waterfall surrounded by trees and hundreds of roses. It must have some significance. I feel a strange power emanating from the painting, like it's pulling me in. I go for a closer look.

The painting suddenly chimes, filling the room with light. The light changes shape, becoming a Keyhole. I like this solution better than reading a ton of books. I summon the Kingdom Key, remembering how the Kingdom Key D didn't work on the Keyhole in my world, and point it at the Keyhole. The Keyblade gathers light that possibly outshines the light from the Keyhole, and sends a ray of light within its depths. The room is filled with a clicking sound, and the Keyhole vanishes.

"What does it mean?"

"This world is safe. It won't go down the same path as mine did."

"I'm glad. Adam and I have so much to do together."

"...?"

"Oh, stop it, you!"

We laugh together. It's the only way to get past the painful memories of the battle that was only yesterday.

"I'm afraid Donald, Goofy and I will be leaving, **your highness.** We have to save the other worlds, find the King and Sora, and then just see what happens."

"Oh. Sora. Why didn't **he** come?"

"We don't know. There must be something up if he's not here to save everyone again."

"To be honest, you did a pretty good job yourself."

"Don't say that! You've jinxed me now!"

We laugh all the way down to the main hall, where Adam is waiting for us. I'll never get used to seeing him all furless. Donald and Goofy are with him.

"We're leaving, aren't we?"

"How did you guess?"

"You have that kind of air about you."

"The Keyhole is sealed. You have nothing to worry about, **your highness.**"

"Sonic, thank you for everything you've done. Hopefully we can get back to normal now, and we have you to thank."

"Shucks, I was just doing my job..."

He offers me his hand, which I shake. He's not as tall as he used to be, but it still puts a crick in my neck. It doesn't feel like a farewell, though. I get the feeling I'll be back.

"Don't be strangers, mon amis."

Of course, the whole household has to come and say goodbye before we came leaves. I'm patted on the back and hugged and praised several times. Donald and Goofy get similar treatment, but to a lesser extent. I guess I was the hero of the hour this time. Adam gives me a bag, with something heavy inside. I open it to find a ton of gold coins. I'm not familiar with this world's currency, but it looks expensive.

"It's just a gift. Don't worry; I have enough left over from all these riches, so I thought I'd give you something for helping us out so much."

"Gawrsh, 4000 munny?!"

"That's nothing compared to what you did for us."

"Thanks, Beast."

"You're welcome. Don't spend it all in one place."

"Look after each other, you two," says I to the happy couple.

"You too," says the happy couple to us.

And with that, we leave our first world. Not bad for my first go at things.


	6. Bug City Part 1

Bug City – Part 1

I **know** technically this isn't Disney, but there are only so many movies I can leech off! So, I went for Disney Pixar instead. Same difference. For those of you who are wondering, Sonic is a Spring Azure. Type it into Wikipedia. Imagine 'The Flik Machine' playing while they're running around the city, 'Seed to Tree' when they're running around Ant Island, and 'Victory' when they're fighting Heartless. Why not play them while you're reading?

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

I get a bad feeling about this next world.

Everything looks **really** small. We'll probably squish everything if we land there. Donald and Goofy don't look as surprised or worried as I do. They must have something planned.

"Hold on, you two! I need to cast some magic so we can adapt to this world. This is gonna get a little bumpy."

The problem is, I seem to have a slight resistance to magic, so I don't know whether this spell if going to work on me. I don't even know how this is going to work in the first place: maybe the spell will drain Donald's energy until it does what it's supposed to do, or maybe it can only use the energy Donald puts into it in the first place to try and do it all. I don't know if magic works the same way that Chaos Energy does.

I get a sick feeling in my stomach: the spell must be taking effect. It seems like the world starts squishing itself together and blurring, like we've been stuffed in a blender. It's probably only the ship that's being affected, though. It doesn't hurt or anything; it's just **really** uncomfortable.

Then, it stops.

I stumble out of the ship, feeling that my back is heavier than it would normally be. My eyes are shut, my head still spinning after the trip. When I open them, it becomes clear that I've shrunk. A single blade of grass is about four times the height of me; a pebble is bigger than my hand. The moon shines above us, seeming even further away than ever.

"I don't think I've been to this world before."

"This must be what Master Yen Sid said about more worlds being affected."

"Are you OK, Sonic? Was that your first time?"

They ask this because I'm staring rudely. Donald seems to have morphed with a bee; his body is black and gold with small wings. Goofy looks like a beetle with a dog's head. **This** must be what they meant by 'adapting to the world'.

And I have blue butterfly wings and antennae.

**Joy.**

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it."

I slap my forehead. This wasn't what I had in mind.

"I wonder where we are. We must be in some kind of bug world if we all look like this."

"How can you be so... so calm about this? I mean, **you're** on four legs!"

"I'm on four legs a lot, so it's no big deal."

"You mean there are **other** worlds out there like this?"

"Well, none that we've seen like **this.** There are other worlds that we need to change shape in, though. You'll get used to it."

Both Donald and Goofy get used to their forms straight away. I have difficulty walking, as my centre of balance has shifted. I get the hang of it eventually by learning how to fold my wings so they're not sticking out the back, but relaxed around me like a cape. Other than my wings, antennae and a small amount of chitin I still look pretty much the same. We three probably make quite a sight.

We walk for a bit before finding ourselves coming out of an alley into a city. A **bug** city, of all things. It's just like back home: streets lights, roads, buildings, only everything is made differently. The street lights are fire-flies with their rear ends shoved in bulbs. The cars are simply bugs that are too big to fit on the pavements. The buildings are cardboards boxes turned upside down. It's quite a sight.

A commotion rises from what looks like a can lying on its side. Flies whizz in and out of the opening, muttering to themselves about 'circus freaks'. The magic Donald cast must be translating for us, too. Something seems off about the whole place. My Heartless senses must be tingling. Donald and Goofy clearly feel the same way, because they both have looks on their face like they're trying to solve a complex maths formula in their heads.

"Are we gonna stand around here looking confused, or are we gonna go in?"

They snap out of it and nod. Looks like we found our lead already. We push aside the fabric hanging over the opening of the can and step inside. It looks like a bar and restaurant inside, with bottle tops for tables. Insects are eating what looks like grub, served up restaurant style. Two mosquitoes are drinking blood out of thimbles at the bar. A ladybug holding menus sidles over.

"Table for three?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She takes us over to an empty 'table' and sits us down. We get a menu each.

"Care to order any drinks, honeys?"

"Gawrsh, I don't know if we can-"

"Surprise us."

She raises her eyebrows, or at least the section where her eyebrows would be if she had hair, mutters something about 'exotic bugs', and goes to get our order. She comes back with three droplets of some liquid on a platter and hands them to us.

"That'll be 300 munny, dears."

I pull the munny sack I got from Prince Adam out of my quills and take 400 munny out. At least, I **think** its 400 munny. I think 1 coin is the same as 1 munny, but I'm not sure.

"Keep the change. It's a tip for quick service."

She smiles gratefully at me and rushes off to serve another customer. I take a sip of the droplet: its diluted whisky. It still catches the back of my throat: I'm smaller now, so it has more effect. Not that I was very good with alcohol anyway. And people wonder why I never had any wine at any of the parties the president keeps throwing for me.

"Should we really be drinking? Perhaps we should be looking for the Keyhole."

"Or the Heartless!"

"Relax guys. I've found that, if you wait long enough, everything comes to you. Now, I propose a toast. To the King!"

"To the King."

We make the action that we'd normally do if we we're toasting; we don't actually toast each other because we're holding droplet's that'd probably splash everywhere if we did. I get a glance of a few bugs nudging each other and pointing at me. Donald and Goofy don't look comfortable.

"Afraid they think we're freaks?"

"No... It's not that..."

"Well, that waitress called us 'exotic bugs'. Hopefully they'll put our strange appearance down to that."

"Gawrsh, Sonic, I think they're trying to **flirt** with you!"

"I doubt that! They look male."

"Yeah, but you've got your legs crossed like a woman!"

"What? Most guys sit like this where I come from. It's just comfy, is all."

"You must come from a **long** way away."

I roll my eyes at them. I'm not going to change the way I sit just because I get a few approving looks. I swallow the rest of my whisky and wait for Donald and Goofy to finish.

"So, where do you think this Keyhole is, then?"

"No idea.** I've **never seen this world before."

"Me neither."

"Well, that's just great. I thought you'd both travelled to all the words with Sora?"

"We only went to the worlds that were in danger of the Heartless."

"Yen Sid was right, saying that the Heartless have spread."

"I just hope we find it soon."

"We haven't seen any Heartless yet, at least."

"That'd **really** draw attention to us!"

The ladybug waitress from before comes back to us.

"Is everything OK?"

"Yes, fine, thank you."

"Can I get you anything to eat? Oh, hang on a sec. I'm sorry, but someone's just arrived."

She vanishes, which is somewhat of a relief, because I don't think any of us are hungry. Not for this 'Poo Poo Platter' anyway. She grabs a few menus off the counter and makes her way over to the entrance.

"Welcome! How many are with you?"

She never gets an answer. Just her heart stolen.

Her face freezes instantly, still in its cheery yet forced smile, before her body crumples into darkness. Looks like the Heartless have finally made their appearance. The Keyblades draws them to us, I think. The loss of the waitress causes general panic, especially when her body reforms into a Heartless itself. The insects try and flee the can: only a few make it. Most have their hearts stolen. It's not long before it's just us and the insects at the last table, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let anyone else get hurt!

The Heartless leap into battle, the three of us following suit. Keyblades, fire and the edge of a shield rip through them all, spraying pure darkness everywhere as they disintegrate. I see the insects protecting themselves, funnily enough, by using the long one as a lance. Not bad for a bunch of bugs.

When the last one is gone, we finally stop to rest.

I feel bad about the ambush. As a hero, I feel it's my duty to save **everyone,** even though the loss of the waitress wasn't technically because of me. She shouldn't have offered a table to a Shadow. The other insects look triumphant. A lone ant crawls his way up to me, bowing at my feet.

"You're perfect! Oh, great ones! I have been scouting for bugs with your exact talents! My colony is in trouble. Grasshoppers are coming; we've been forced to prepare all this food! Please will you help us?!"

I help the poor thing to his feet.

"Of course we'll help."

"What?!" quacks Donald, not sounding at all like the bee he's supposed to be. He stirs his wings irritably, carrying himself a few centimetres of the ground.

"Do you have a Keyhole in this colony of yours?" I ask.

"We do! How did you know? I'm sure the Queen will show you it if you help us."

"Can't argue with that logic, **right,** Donald?"

He frowns deeply, hitting the floor again. Logic prevails. The other bugs, also included in this deal, whisper excitedly behind us.

"Ooh, a talent scout!"

"Sounds like a theatre job!"

"And food!"

The ant is too busy hugging me ecstatically to hear them. They don't sound like the right bugs for the job, but...

"We'll take the job! You can explain the details on the way!"

A few flies manage to pull themselves out of the wreckage but we're rushed outside before I can help them, the insects looking scared for some reason. The ant is placed on the back of the rhinoceros beetle; I hop on as well. Once everyone has a pair of wings, or is being carried by a pair of wings, we take off. It's like being on a helicopter when the beetle buzzes his wings. The noise is incredible. Once we reach a level altitude, the buzzing decreases until I can hear again.

It surprises me to find that Donald and Goofy are flying just fine. Goofy's wings must have been under his chitin all along. Poor me can't fly yet. I'll need a bit of practise. We reach the edge of the city by daybreak. It looks just like a pile of boxes during the day, instead of the city of lights it was in the dark. The ant turns to me, sitting between me and the two pill bugs.

"I'm Flik. I can't thank you all enough for helping me."

"Hey, no problem. Helping people is what we do best!"

The spider and the stick insect exchange glances.

"My name's Sonic. This is Donald and Goofy."

"Dim," booms the rhinoceros beetle.

"Frances," says the Ladybug, with a roll of her... I mean his eyes.

"Rosie," says the black widow spider.

"Heimlich," says the caterpillar being flown around by Dim.

"Slim," says the stick insect being carried around by Francis.

"Manny," says the praying mantis.

"Gypsy," says the moth. "This is Tuck and Roll. They don't speak English."

I surprise myself with my extensive knowledge of insect species.

"I haven't seen any bugs like **you** three before. Where are you from?" asks Francis. I don't think they'd like or believe the truth. So I lie.

"We're from... **abroad.** We got carried into the country by... mistake?"

"Well, that explains your odd looks."

"Who're you calling odd?"

"Donald, play nice."

"What **we're** those things that attacked us in the bar?!" asks Gypsy, a hint of worry in her voice.

"They're the Heartless. They're... a new... species?"

"You don't sound very sure."

"I get that a lot. It's a little hard to explain."

"You know, Sonic. I think I've seen them before!" exclaims Flik. "They attacked us a long time ago, but Hopper and his gang stepped in and scared them away. He said that he'd protect us if we gathered food for him and the swarm. That's where all the problems started."

"Oh, you poor thing!" exclaims Rosie.

"Looks like we came along at the right time."

"Well, this whole thing was kinda my fault. See, I accidentally... knocked all the food we'd gathered off a cliff. Then, Princess Atta – boy, is she one in a million – sent me to come find help. And seeing you all fighting those Heartless... boy, are those grasshoppers in for a surprise!"

The grass parts beneath us. Lines of ants are collecting the seeds from the grass stalks. They all panic and start running for cover when we all fly over. A couple of baby ants are jumping up and down on a leaf, waving at us. Flik waves back. It must be good to have a home to go to.

We land in a clear patch of ground, next to a big leaf with food on it. The other insects balance on top of each other and go "Ta-da!" but everyone's in hiding. Not quite the welcome party I was expecting. Flik jumps down off Dim's back, leaping about like one excited little ant.

"Hey! Everybody! I'm back! And I brought the warrior bugs!"

One of the little ants from before runs over to Flik and jumps into his arms. They both start laughing. I get the feeling that they were both half expecting that Flik would never come back. After the little ant comes over, the rest of the ants follow.

Now **this** looks more like a welcome party!

They all gather around in a mixture of awe and fear. The children are less afraid than the adults, and get closer. One of them pulls at my wing, and I bend down to him.

"Are you a monster?" he asks.

"Only when I'm hungry!" I answer. He laughs.

"You're like my dad!"

An elderly ant with wings greets us all, but mostly Flik. She must be the queen, judging by her gender and the fact that she's wearing a crown made out of petals.

"Well, my boy! You came through! We're **very** impressed."

Another female ant joins us, looking more worried than her mother.

"Guys, this is Princess Atta! She's the one who sent me to find you!"

"They look absolutely ferocious, don't they?"

"They're our ticket outta this mess!"

The Princess balks and turns away, hurriedly talking to her peers. She doesn't seem very keen. Donald and I exchange looks.

"Are you always this badly welcomed?"

"Rarely. Once, when we were in Atlantica-"

"You're majesty!" proclaims Francis from on top of Dim. "Ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls of all ages. Our troupe here guarantees a performance like no other! Why, when your grasshopper friends get here we are gonna Knock. Them. Dead!"

The crowd goes **wild!** I think what Francis means and what the ants think he means are two entirely different things.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that **we're** the only actual warriors here."

"I've been having that feeling ever since we met them."

Everything happens really fast after that. We foreign insects are escorted to shaded seats constructed from leaves and pebbles while entertainers play music and perform acts for us. I think it's **fascinating.** To think, these ants have the same principles as us! Everyone is slightly horrified when the children do a small performance, depicting a huge battle scene where everyone dies. That's maybe not the best thing to see before we kick grasshopper butt.

"The others don't look very happy."

"Gawrsh, sounds like they're talking about leaving."

"Well, **we're** not going to desert them, right? I mean, how hard could a few grasshoppers be compared to a castle filled with Heartless?"

Atta gets up to make a speech, but she's so nervous that I can hardly hear her, and I'm two people... well, bugs away from her. Flik, who is the bug between us, quickly makes a megaphone out of a leaf, which works surprisingly well.

"First, I'd like to thank the warriors for helping us in our fight against the grasshoppers. Secondly, I would like to thank... Urrgh... **Flik, **for his forthright thinking."

"Thank you, your highness!" proclaims Flik, taking the makeshift megaphone off her. "Oh, sure I'd like to take credit for all of this, but that wouldn't be right!"

"He's really milking this, huh?"

"You got that right."

"Because it was you, Princess Atta, who believed in me and set me on my quest. Now I know that I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, and I'm hoping this will make up-"

Rosie taps him on the shoulder. Looks like they're not going to stick around after all.

"Not right now, Rosie, I'm making a speech. Now, I truly believe that these bugs are the answer to our (no there's no circus around here), so I..."

He stops and turns. The bugs are juggling. He pales. We three exchange knowing glances.

"Your highness! The warriors have called for a secret meeting to plan for circus – ah circumventing the oncoming horrors so they can trapeze – trap them with ease!"

"Well, shouldn't I come too?"

"**NO!** Ha ha ha. No, it's classified. Sorry I have to take the warriors away so early, but they... they have a lot to get done... with the battle looming, and all. So, uh, please, everyone enjoy the party."

We're all ushered off and into the grass again. We're far enough away from the rest of the ants so that Flik can yell at the bugs without being overheard.

"**Circus bugs? **How can you be **circus bugs?!**"

"Hey, you said nothing about killing grasshoppers, pal. You lied to us!"

"Ja!"

"Are you **kidding?!** You know what this is? This, my friends, is false advertising!"

"How dare you! **You,** sir, are the charlatan in this scenario! Touting your wares as a talent scout. Good day to you, sir!"

They leave. Flik barely notices us as he runs after the retreating figures of the insects. We all exchange glances.

"Maybe we should go. This doesn't look like a good time to be around."

"They won't believe us if we say that we'll still take care of the grasshoppers. We **can,** but we look like three normal insects."

"We have to at least **try.** We need this Keyhole!"

"Flik! Flik? I really think I should be attending this meeting!"

Flick comes running back, looking slightly depressed. He rummages around in the leaves before revealing Atta's face. At least, I think he reveals Atta's face, but I'm not behind him to see.

"Oh, Princess Atta! What a nice... surprise."

"What exactly is going on? I would like to speak with these so-called **warriors.**"

"You can't! I mean..."

"Come talk to us, princess!"

About time I made my presence known. I part the leaves and step through to her side.

"Go help Flik," I whisper back to Donald and Goofy. They nod.

"SO!" I say, trying to take her attention away from the fact that her 'warriors' are currently running away. "What can I do for you?!"

"Walk. **Now.**"

I sigh and sag my head, doing as I'm told. She **is** a princess after all. We walk a ways before she flies up to sit on the leaf of a plant. I feel a bit awkward.

"Umm... Princess? I'm not... very good at flying."

"Oh, come on! You're a butterfly!"

"OK, then. I'll try. Don't be surprised if this fails."

I flap my wings as hard as I can. To my surprise, I actually leave the ground and land safely on the leaf. Flying isn't as hard as I first thought!

"Huh! My wings must have gotten bigger."

Atta doesn't look impressed.

"Now, tell me **everything.** Don't leave anything out! Frankly, I don't trust you 'warriors'."

So, I tell her. I actually do miss out a **lot,** but most of it either isn't important or gives away mine, Donald and Goofy's identities. Or that includes the true identities of the other 'warriors'. Luckily, she doesn't notice the difference.

"Well, sounds like I underestimated you. **You.** I'm not convinced about the other bugs."

"I can't help you with that. I'm just passing through. I always am..."

I feel sad suddenly. Atta must realise, because she changes the subject.

"What are you actually planning to **do** about the grasshoppers? I didn't hear a lot of 'planning' going on back there."

"Well, I don't really know about the skills of the others, so I can't say for sure. Donald, Goofy and I, however, are already trained in hard combat."

"That didn't answer my question."

"Well, I'll just hit them over the head really hard."

She's **not** impressed.

"Well, it hurts more if you hit them with this."

I summon the Keyblade, which appears to be a stupid move, because it scared Atta. She leaps several inches into the air without even unfolding her wings, which is a miracle in itself, and flies off to another leaf.

"I **knew** you were freaks! You're worse than the grasshoppers! Oh, wait till I tell my mother!"

She flies off before I can stop her. I don't think I could out-fly her until I get more experience, either. I sigh. No one is very accepting. The sound of screaming breaks me from my reverie. I fly towards it, stopping when I reach a gorge. The ground is dry and cracked; the wind and sun harsh and biting.

And everyone is running for their lives.

They're being chased by a bird, which looks very hungry. The bugs with wings have the obvious advantage, being that they won't fall into the cracks. Poor Flik doesn't have a chance. A tiny little voice calls out from above me. The ant that seems to keep running after Flik is attached to a dandelion parachute, screaming her head off. Looks like she's bitten off more than she can chew. The bird makes a bee line for her.

And she let's go.

I leap into action, being the only bug not having his life threatened. I fight with the wind, which seems to want to hinder me. Being so small makes me easy to blow around, accompanied by the fact that I'm still pretty bad at flying. The little ant falls faster and faster, her screams getting more and more panicked by the second. I won't reach her in time.

Luckily, Francis catches her.

The last I see of them is when they both tumble into one of the cracks, the bird just barely missing them. I can't go help them when they're being attacked, or I'll get eaten too. I hover in the air, feeling the winds dying down again. Flik and the others hide behind a large rock. He gives me a wave, like he's trying to tell me something. I just presume he's got an idea.

By now a large crowd has gathered on the edge of the precipice, watching the scene unfold. Princess Atta is there, holding a telescope made out of a leaf to her eye. I didn't know she had that kind of talent too! I give her a wave, point to my eyes, and point at the bird to let her know that I'm watching out for the ant. She lowers the telescope in what could be disbelief, but doesn't wave back. She's probably wondering why we're all going to such helps to save the ant when she'd just called me a freak.

Then the bird gets distracted. Heimlich is being held up in the air by Slim, who must be being crushed, the poor thing. They're holding it in the direction opposite to where I'm hovering, so the bird is led away from me too. Flik gives me a signal, which I presume to mean 'go'. So I do.

I nose dive down to ground level and try and find Francis and the ant. I hear the ant screaming, but I don't see her.

"I can't see you! Where are you?"

"I'm over here! Please, the ladybug is hurt!"

A few rocks are thrown up and out of a crack. Now I know where they are! I dive into the crack, landing somewhere roughly. I pick up Francis first, being the one who is hurt, and hoist him into a rope swing, which Rosie has spun after being hung from Dim with Flik riding on him. Looks like we're all in for the effort. Donald and Goofy dive down to help me support him as he's lifted up.

"Stay here with Dot, Sonic! We can only take one at once!" yells Flik over the beating of Dim's wings. I nod and plummet once more. Dot is crying and shaking. This must be the first time she's ever been in any real danger. I told onto her tightly, her tiny body shaking against mine. Poor kid.

"...We can't say here... We need to... sniffle... help Flik..."

"Flik will be fine. He's Flik, remember? And call me Sonic."

"But, we need to go! That bird might come back!"

"... Good point. Besides, it's not worth risking everyone just to save us two, when we can get away on our own! Can you fly?"

"No... I'm not strong enough."

"I'm not too good either. Just hold on tight, OK?"

She nods and tightens her grip around my waist. I spread my wings, a difficulty due to the lack of space down here, and take to the air. Trying to climb while trying not to graze your wings of the rocks in **hard.** I'm relieved when we finally reach open air, so I can open out fully.

The bird is coming back.

It takes to the air this time, seeing that its food also has wings. Dot screams, and I brace myself. Time to put these new wings to the test!

I figure that I'll be faster if I'm falling, as most things are. So, I climb and wait for the bird to get closer. When it's about to gobble us up, and drop quickly, gaining speed as I go. I can't do this too much, though, or I'll just keep dropping until I'm on the floor again. I see Dim escaping through some thorn bushes. The bird won't be able to follow us through there. That's our safest bet.

I don't think I'm going to reach it in time, though.

That's the problem. Butterflies aren't known for speed, but grace. It's a pity I wasn't a wasp: they're fast, but also feared. I'd be more impressive to the colony. What am I saying? Now isn't the time for this! I can't escape, so I'll have to fight.

"Dot? Are you OK?"

"I've been better!"

"I'm going to drop you, OK? Don't panic! I'll put you down in a shallow crack. Stay there so I can come back for you later!"

Before she can complain I let her go. She's pretty sturdy to have made it this far, so I'm not too worried. However, she **is** female, and therefore a princess too. I don't want to be held responsible to the death of a future ruler of the colony.

I gain in height slightly, faster now that I'm not carrying around the extra weight. I summon both Keyblades, reading to do battle. This isn't a Heartless, though, so I won't do as much damage. I don't want to **kill** the thing, per se, but scaring it off would be good. My wings are starting to hurt.

It makes a lunge for me. I quickly dodge out of the way, so close I can feel the feathers along my back, and strike at the neck with the Kingdom Key D. I probably didn't do all the damage I wanted, but if I whack it enough, just maybe...

It's a lot faster and more agile than I am, which is saying something. We almost dance with each other, both striking but never hitting. I manage to get a jab at its eye, making it back off for a moment. I think I've scared it off, but it makes a blind lunge for me.

And hits.

I'm sent flying, my weight far overshadowed by that of the bird's. I tumble through the air, unable to regain my balance, and hit the ground **hard.** A butterfly's wings are very delicate: once they break they never heal. I hope I haven't broken **my** wings. The bird lands, still blinking furiously to try and clear its vision. I mustn't have hit it very well, because it stops fidgeting and makes a beeline for me, who can't get up in time.

Just before it can swallow me whole, it's hit in the side of the face by an ice shard. In **this** weather it had to be magic, and the only one who can use magic is:

"Sonic!"

Donald and Goofy have flown over and are currently saving my butt. They do a better job of fighting off the bird than me, considering that they're using magic and a sharp shield to do damage. And there's two of them, and only one of me, so really I did quite well.

Eventually the bird gives up, figuring out that we're not worth all the effort, and makes a hasty retreat. I pull myself up, inspecting my wings. They're not broken, thankfully. Just a bit bruised. Nothing I haven't had before. Donald stops to cast a healing spell on me, which doesn't work because I'm immune to weaker magic. I use the Chaos Energy inside my gloves instead.

They both fly off, probably to see if everyone else is alright. Donald's magic might be necessary, considering the state Francis was in. When I'm feeling better I dip down into the crack where I left Dot. She's sitting in a corner, her hands over her head. I tap her on the shoulder and she jumps about as much as her sister did, if that's who she is. She looks relived to see me, and gives me a big hug.

"I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

"Hey, I'm a hero, right? I don't leave anyone behind."

She laughs happily and wraps herself around my waist again. I use the power of the Chaos Energy to give me a little more oomph so that I can actually make it back to the colony without collapsing. When I emerge from the crack, the sound of cheering reaches my ears. The entire colony, along with all the circus bugs, are standing along the edge, cheering.

"Flik was right. You really **are** a warrior bug!" chirps Dot.

"Well, I hope I've convinced your sister of that. She wasn't too impressed."

I drop suddenly in the air, feeling exhaustion beginning to kick in. Dot holds on tighter as I struggle my way back to solid ground. I **hate** this world...

When I get back Dot is snatched from my arms by the Queen, also known as 'her mother', and I'm pounced on my Donald and Goofy. They look glad to see me.

"Does this mean you're not going to insult me anymore, Donald?"

He just laughs. What else **can** we do? Francis is carted off into the ant hill on a stretcher to get medical care for his leg. I just ask for a rest. We're all taken into the ant hill ourselves, which is a sure fire sign that we've been accepted at last.

The inside of the ant hill is **huge!** There are tunnels branching off of tunnels branching off of tunnels in here. Strange bioluminescent fungi cover the walls, casting everything in an ethereal glow. Gypsy's and my wings reflect the light, casting glittering shadows on the floor. I like **this** part of this world.

I'm taken off to what looks like the medical chamber, where Francis is having his leg bandaged. Several ants keep trying to give me a check-up, but I insist I'm fine. I don't want them realising that I've miraculously healed within seconds. It would cause too many problems.

Everyone else comes in, congratulating us both for helping save Dot. A bunch of youngsters also file in, praise Francis, name him their 'den mother' and pounce on him, which isn't the best thing for his leg. They're ushered out when they become too rowdy, as kids will be.

Atta also ushers **me** out, which is stupid because I'm technically one of the casualties. She looks tense, as she usually does.

"I haven't... **offended** you, have I?"

"You mean whole freak thing? Just look at me. I'm blue and spiky. I get called a freak a lot."

"That wasn't quite the convincing I needed. It's just... I'm sorry I thought you weren't who you said you were. When you first all arrived I thought you were just a bunch of clowns!"

Ouch. She doesn't know how right she is. We start walking. She doesn't like to stay still when she's agitated. She reminds of Amy.

"Don't tell them I said that, mind. That's all **I** need: another royal **blunder.**"

"Why do you say that?"

"I know what everyone really thinks. Everyone! The whole colony! Nobody really believes I can do this job. It's like... They're all watching me. Just waiting for me to screw up... I owe you an apology."

"For what? You already apologised for calling me names."

"I want to apologise for ever thinking you weren't exactly what we needed. I'm sorry for not believing."

"Why don't you tell that to Flik? He needs it more than me. By the way, you didn't really send him off to get us, did you?"

She blanched. I hit the nail on the head first time!

"You can tell me! I won't tell Flik!"

"But, what if it gets out! That's just the royal blunder I don't need!"

"To be honest, I won't even be around long enough to tell anyone. That's my life for you. Just always moving on. I never stay in one place too long. Sure, sometimes it can be lonely, but if I stayed in one place, I'd never see anything! And I want to see it all! Flik is like that as well. I get the feeling that... he'll leave too. Unless, of course, there was a certain **lady ant** around to keep him here, hmm?"

I nudge Atta with one elbow. I don't get to see her reaction.

I move on again.


	7. Bug City Part 2

Bug City – Part 2

Guess who! OK, let's wrap this mother up.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

"Hopper's afraid of birds!"

Flik sounds like he's just had the most earth-shattering, history-changing, generally awesome revelation.

"Of course he is. He's a bug! Birds eat bugs!"

"Exactly! We can clear this whole thing up, and no one has to know anything! Just keep pretending your warriors! Except you three: you **are** warriors."

"Whoa! Flik, honey! We are **not** about to fight grasshoppers, OK?" complains Rosie.

"We'll fight them!" says Goofy with gusto.

"We don't have keys to hit them with."

"Don't worry! You'll be gone before the grasshoppers ever arrive! Except you three: you're our backup."

"Not another word!" says Manny, who is still seething about the 'false advertising' quip Flik made. "I don't know what you're concocting in that little ant brain of yours, but we'll have no part of it!"

Flik looks crushed. Looks like the backup will be the only plan. A group of kids rush in, getting everyone's autographs. My hand writing is really messy, and looks a bit dwarfed next to Gypsy's elegant curls, or Dim's footprint. The kids leave, more excited than ever. Manny doesn't look so reproachful anymore.

"Alright. We are going to build a bird. One that we can control from the inside, which will then be hoisted up above the anthill and hidden in the trees. Then, when Hopper and his gang show up, we launch the bird and frighten them all away! Any questions?"

"What's Plan B?"

"Sonic beats him up."

"Good enough for me."

"Right! Let's get to it!"

The plan is proposed to the council. They agree to it: they must be pretty desperate. Atta rallies the ants very impressively. She **does** have what it takes to be a great leader; she just doesn't see that yet. She **also** doesn't see the way that Flik looks at her.

Phase one of Project Bird-Brain, aptly named by Flik, goes underway immediately. A bird shape is cut out of a leaf, which Gypsy and I hold up in the sky against the sun so that it casts a bird-shape shadow on the ground. The ant on the ground place twigs around the shadow to use as a template for the mechanical bird. Dim strolls along with a huge twig that he places as the spine of the bird.

An acorn is split into two to create a beak. A shell is used as a megaphone for the voice. Rosie attaches everything together with her webbing. Leaves from the trees, all turned fiery colours by the breath of autumn, become the feathers of the bird.

In the end, it's not a bad bird!

Of course, when you're about two feet away from it and it's not moving, you can tell it's not real. However, for Hopper and the rest of the grasshoppers, it **will** be moving, and by the time it's two feet away from them, they'll be as good as gone. The whole thing is hoisted into the tree after the ants practise their flapping. The bird won't actually **fly,** per se: it'll swing from the rope it's suspended on. The flapping is only to make it **look** like its flying.

The rest of the night is spent partying!

Someone cracks open the dew supplies and everyone drinks all night. It has a strange flavour to it that I'm not fond of, but the ants love it, which is what matters. **They** did most of the work, after all. A giant conga line stretches on from what looks like miles from this level, but is probably only about ten feet long from my usual height. Dim catapults the children ants into a web spun by Rosie. Atta still doesn't look at ease.

"If you worry as much as you do, you'll get wrinkles. Just look at your mother!"

"No, no, I'm having a good time!"

"Really."

"Well..."

"Everything will be fine. I promise. We've got the bird as Plan A and us as Plan B."

"But, what if everything **does** go wrong? You're only little!"

"Doesn't matter. Just as long as I have something to fight **for,** I'll be undefeatable. It's when I start fighting for the sake of it that I'll begin to lose. Besides, I have Donald and Goofy with me! Three heads are better than one."

"I suppose."

Flik breaks away from the main group and waves me over.

"Just relax, OK? Enjoy the party! Everyone else is."

I leave her with those wise words of wisdom and join the other 'warrior bugs'.

"OK, you guys. When the party settles down, we all sneak out the back lane, and you're out of here forever."

The circus bugs exchange looks, which is surprising. It sounds like a fairly reasonable plan.

"Dim don't wanna go."

"Well, if Dim stays he's going to need me here: he's not fully house trained."

"I, uh... kinda promised the Blueberries that I'd teach them canasta."

"It seems that we've been booked for an extended engagement."

Well, this is quite the development. I'm not sure if Flik looks happy or shocked. A bit of both, maybe.

"And, you know you always have us here to help, too!" says Donald.

"We promised you, didn't we?"

Atta comes over, starting to enjoy the party. We leave her and Flik together for their little **moment** and go join the conga queue. We need to party as much as we can before the grasshoppers get here to ruin it all. We get there just in time, because a horn sounds from a tree. It's one of the signals! Everyone gets to their positions.

Which ends up being a waste of time.

A wagon driven by millipedes charges over the hill, almost landing on everyone. A flea seems to be steering them. I suppose I can't take anything for granted in this world. The circus bugs run and hide for some reason. The party's certainly died down now, so maybe they're leaving. The ants, on the other hand, get closer.

"Ladies and gentleman! I am the great P.T. Flea! I'm in need of you assistance... Forget it, let's just cut to the chase. Look, I've been going from anthill to anthill looking for a bunch of circus performers. Have you seen 'em?"

A couple of flies unroll a poster. A poster bearing the images of Francis, Slim, Manny, Gypsy, Dim, Tuck and Roll, Heimlich and Rosie. I can just imagine what's going through Flik's head right now. Actually, I can't, because this has never happened to me. Donald, Goofy and I decide to stay out of it, not really having any business in these affairs. Instead, we fly up onto a tree and watch the scene unfold from afar.

"I really think we should be doing something about this."

"Sonic, we can't meddle in the affairs of other worlds!"

"Then, what have we been doing so far?"

"The whole bird thing probably would've happened anyway. Just as long as we don't make **too** many changes, we'll be OK."

"Poor Atta. Poor Flik. They're the one's going to get blamed."

"Poor us, too. Gawrsh, I don't think the Queen will show us the Keyhole now."

"We **have** to get to it. We're going to help them, whether they like it or not."

"How are we gonna convince them?"

"I have no idea. It'll have to work out, somehow."

Whatever happens down there, it's not good. Flik and the circus bugs leave dejectedly. He's probably been exiled.

"This really isn't good."

"It's looking less and less likely that we'll get to the Keyhole."

"... Not if I can help it."

I throw myself off the branch, leaving Donald and Goofy behind. They're not the best smooth talkers, so I'll have to do it instead. I still need to convince the Queen to let us see the Keyhole. Besides, I've grown attached to these ants. I **want** them to come out of this mess with smiling faces.

I hover above the crowd, searching for the Queen's crown. When I find it, I land down next to her. She doesn't look very happy to see me, surprisingly enough.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, your highness?"

I few ants try to step in as her body guards, but she shoos them aside. We go for a walk to somewhere private.

"Are you going to try and convince me to let them all stay? Because it's not going to work."

"No. It's just..."

"You should leave too."

"Your majesty-"

"I won't hear any of it! We've decided to pretend none of this happened."

"And what about the grasshoppers?! What about when they get here?! Are you just going to pretend that they're not coming?!"

"Hold your tongue, child."

"Is that your answer? You're the **Queen!** It's too late to sweep everything under the rug. The grasshoppers will come and destroy you, and I don't think you want that. Not for the children. Not for the colony. Not for **yourself.** Your ancestors would be rolling in their graves if they heard you, condemning your whole family to their imminent dooms. You **know** that we're your only hope, but you're too **stubborn** to let us help you! You have more ants than is necessary to stand up to the grasshoppers, but you're too stuck in your ways to make use of that!"

She slaps me. I think I got carried away.

"Young miss! Never in all my days have I heard such things come out of the mouth of a woman! You disgrace me! You disgrace yourself! And yet... You're right."

"Your highness, I'm sorry that I flipped off, but Donald, Goofy and I really **are** warrior bugs. We're travelling around, helping people in need."

"Why would you do that? The world is such a big place for such small bugs."

"True, but it's our job. We help people because it's the right thing to do, not because we gain from it. Also, I'm not a girl."

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's just... your colours... and your wings..."

"Now I know how Francis feels."

"My dear, I'm also sorry that I snapped at **you.** If your hearts command you to stay here and fight off the grasshoppers, then I am not one to interfere. However, I fear that the fighting may cause harm to come to my colony."

"**More** harm will come if nothing is done. You're just trying to protect them."

"Yes, and I think it's not **me** who is to protect them, but **you.**"

"You know, Flik really **was** just trying to help. And the other bugs were going to stay here on Ant Island. They've grown... attached."

"You have too, I see. If you weren't then you wouldn't have confronted me in such a colourful manner!"

"Is there any way of forgiving them? I think the bird plan really **will** work."

"Unfortunately, they **did** deceive us, and have put us all in danger. The only way that they could be welcomed back into the colony would be if they prove themselves to us. If they do **that,** then they might **earn** their place here."

"Thank you for speaking to me, your majesty."

"Thank you for talking some sense into me, my **boy.**"

I smile at her, and she smiles back. When I abandoned my role as prince to travel the world, nobody could understand why. In truth, I wouldn't want the burdens of everyone in my kingdom to bear down on me. Too stressful, and I'd be stuck in one place. The Queen here does a very good job. It's a pity Atta doesn't have her mother's confidence, or she'd be a good ruler too. The Queen flies off to do queen-ly stuff.

I'm not alone for long, however. Dot muscles her way through the shrubs, desperate to come talk to me. When she finally gets through, she throws herself into my arms.

"What're we gonna do, Sonic? The grasshoppers are coming and we've got no one left!"

"That's not true, Dot. You still have Donald, Goofy and I to help you."

"You three up against all those grasshoppers?"

"I've been outweighed more than that before. Maybe I'll tell you about my adventures some time. Right now, though, the colony is in trouble, and I have to prepare. I'm still not very good at flying."

"Well, maybe I can help you get some practise!"

"You can't even fly yourself."

"Well... I've got a plan. It's just..."

"You mother wouldn't like it."

"Yeah."

"Well, your mother didn't like the way I spoke to her, but she listened eventually. Why don't you try?"

"But, she said Flik and those other bugs had to earn their way back into the colony."

"Oh. It's about them, huh?"

"I really think that this bird could work, but we need Flik here! He's the one who thought it up! And, as much as you hate to admit it, you **are** just three small bugs, against a million grasshoppers. We could use all the help we can get."

"Let's hear your plan then."

She explains it to me. It's fraught with danger, especially for the kids, but she's adamant that it'll work, and I don't have the heart to turn her down. Besides, it's the best we can manage at the moment.

"If we leave now we can catch the wagon up!"

"But it's night-time. The whole colony will go ballistic if their princess goes missing!"

"I don't care. Now come on!"

I sigh and pick her up, taking flight into the sky. Donald and Goofy are gonna **kill** me for this. I reach the branch where they were before, but they're not there anymore. They must have gone to see how my audience with the Queen went. I just hope they'll understand, and help the colony if the grasshoppers show up before we get back.

We fly through the night as fast as my wings can carry me. The reason we need my flying abilities is because we're going to have to go over the Canyon. As fun as that sounds, it's our only chance.

"They all left on that wagon, right? So, that means they wouldn't have been able to get over the canyon! They'll have had to go around, which means that if **we** cross the canyon we can catch up to them."

"**And** because it's night-time, there are no birds around! Not a bad plan, Dot."

"I **told** you, Sonic!"

A thick fog settles on the ground, but it's reasonably clear over the canyon, so we don't fly into anything. The air is chilly and crisp with the oncoming of winter. We both cross our fingers that no birds come to eat us. I don't think I could out-fly or scare them away if they do.

Luckily, it's quite a mundane flight.

Once we cross the canyon the skies clear again. Ant Island remains cloudy, while the rest of the world comes into sharp focus again. The sun creeps over the horizon, casting everything is a warm orange glow. It would be pretty, if it wasn't the sure sign of the arrival of the grasshoppers. We don't see any, but that's probably because they're not stupid enough to fly over the canyon.

We eventually catch up to the wagon. They made quite good head way, considering it was only about an hour ago that they left. Dot yells at the wagon, getting their attention. Especially the attention of Flik. I drop Dot into his arms and land myself. I need the rest after all of that flying.

"Dot? Sonic? Why are you here? Did you... fly all this way?!"

"Hence the tiredness. Well, I've gotta fly all the way back, now! I need to make sure the grasshoppers don't ruin everything. Take, care, everyone."

And with that, I fly away again.

It doesn't take me quite as long to fly back as it did to fly there, seeing as I'm carrying a lighter load. Unfortunately, when I get back, there's a serious grasshopper invasion. My first act is to get the children to safety. I land a little way away from where the grasshoppers are intimidating everyone, and usher them over. We don't get seen.

"If there anywhere safe you can stay while I take care of these guys?"

"Yeah! We'll go to the Blueberries' Secret Base!"

"Lead the way."

We dodge through the grass, eventually coming to a blade that looks unremarkable. **Suspiciously** unremarkable. One of the ants runs up the leaf and reveals a secret passageway into the stalk. We all slide inside just in time, barely avoiding the prying eyes of a couple of grasshoppers. The passage leads to an underground room, which is where we all shiver in the cold. I **hate** fog.

"So, when did **this** lot get here?"

"They just showed up a few minutes ago!"

"After the circus bugs and Flik left everyone started running around like crazy, gathering as much food as they could! Then Hopper showed up, and is making everyone collect all the food now, so that the grasshoppers can leave before the rain comes."

"But, we'll have nothing to eat, then! We'll all starve!"

"We're going to die..."

"No we're not. We've still got the bird. I wonder where Donald and Goofy are..."

"Oh, I know! They looked for you, gave up, and went into hiding when the grasshoppers showed up. I think they're heading towards the bird."

"That's our plan too. Right now the rest of the ants are busy, so **we're** gonna have to fly this contraptions ourselves! You all up for a little adventure?"

"Yeah!"

"Then let's move out!"

I stick my head out the 'door', making sure that there's no grasshoppers around, before we all leave. Weaving through the grass is only going to get us spotted, so we all climb up to the top of the plants. Except for me, who flies. We manage to skip being spotted by several grasshoppers this way, at the risk that one of us falls. By the time we reach the tree the fog has cleared, but its night. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.

We start climbing the tree. The ants are better than I am, being natural climbers. I can't fly, because my colouration is too obvious. They'd all be on me in a flash. As we get higher up, I notice that the grasshoppers have assembled everyone.

"Does anyone know what they're doing?"

"I heard one of them say that they're going to squish the Queen!"

"They're going to make an example of her. We'd better hurry before it's too late."

"Unless a miracle happens, she's a goner."

A miracle **does** happen, as it were.

P. T. Flea's wagon comes over the hill, lights shining like stars, the whole troupe waving on top. Way to create a distraction, guys. They manage to convince the grasshoppers that they're travelling performers, which is more or less the truth anyway, and start performing for them, who sit back and enjoy it.

"You guys keep climbing, OK? If Donald and Goofy are there, then stick with them."

"What if they're not?"

"Well, the circus bugs are here, which must mean the Flik and Dot are too, and if I know anything about those two, they're not going to give up either. If Donald and Goofy aren't there, then they will be."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna do what I do best: be a hero!"

I fly down the back of the tree, away from the line of view of the grasshoppers. Now, I just need to wait for my chance to sneak her out. Unfortunately, Manny chooses her as part of his act, in which she's 'transformed', read swapped, with Gypsy. The crowd love it, until Hopper twigs that they're hiding the Queen from him. I almost step in to save them, when the bird finally comes loose and goes for the attack.

Or so the grasshoppers think, which is what is important.

The ants start running around, acting frightened to panic the grasshoppers more. It works a treat. People start covering themselves with berry juice to make it look like they're bleeding. I'd laugh hysterically, but it would ruin the mood of the moment. How I'd love to be in that bird myself!

Unfortunately, the bird catches on fire.

The kids inside must be scared out of their wits. Oh, where's Donald to put it out with magic when you need him? The bird spins out of control before finally crashing headfirst into the ground, collapsing in a bird pile. Luckily, all the ants climb out safely, along with Donald and Goofy, who we're probably helping fly the thing. I **thought** the bird sounded like it was quacking!

Hopper doesn't look amused.

"Whose idea was** this?!**" he yells, terrifying the ants.

"The bird was my idea!" proclaims Flik, leaping out of the burning bird. Hopper clicks his fingers and a possibly rabid grasshopper starts kicking the poor guy around.

"Where do you get the **gall** to do this to me?"

"You were... you were going to squish the Queen."

"I hate it when someone gives away the ending. You piece of dirt. No, I'm wrong. You're **lower** that dirt. You're an ant. Let this be a lesson to **all** you ants. Ideas are very dangerous things. You are mindless, soil-shoving losers put on this Earth to serve us!"

"You're wrong, Hopper," says I. "Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers."

Enter Sonic to save the day. Hopper looks even less amused, stalking towards me. I notice that one of his eyes is cloudy and blind.

"I've seen these ants do great things, and year after year, they somehow manage to pick food for themselves **and** you. So who's the weaker species? Ants don't serve grasshoppers."

He's very close now. I can see the individual scales that make up his chitin, but I don't back down, and neither does he.

"Grasshoppers should serve ants."

**That** causes a reaction. All the ants gasp at the fact that a stranger is fighting for them. A stranger who they almost kicked out because they were different. I see the spark of war in their eyes, and I know that they're going to fight this time. They all link arms as a sign of their unity. The grasshoppers look ready to run. All except Hopper.

"I've heard of you. A bug called 'Pete' told me about your meddling kind. Well, Sora, if it's a war you want, it's a war you get."

He clicks his fingers. Several hundred Heartless materialise at his command. The ants stay strong, but I can see the fear in their eyes. Hopper turns to face them, instead of meeting my level gaze.

"First you don't collect the food. **Then** you try and frighten us off, and now you've gotten creatures from other worlds to help you? You broke the deal we had. We protected you from the Heartless, and you **obeyed us.** Well, guess what? You don't have our protection. Any. More."

He clicks his fingers again, and the Heartless strike. A wave of thunder bolts and the whirr of a shield slice through several of them, ceasing their attack. Donald and Goofy are beside me again.

"You're just like the rest, huh, Hopper? A coward."

I summon my Keyblade and go for him. The Heartless start swarming, distracting us long enough for the grasshoppers to run away. The Queen manages to get the frightened ants inside the anthill and block the door, keeping them in and us out.

"Looks like Plan B is underway."

"We're ready!"

With that we lunge.

The battle rages on. The Heartless surround us on all sides, outnumbering us two to one, but we don't give in. Not when so many hearts are on the line. The grasshoppers catch onto how fast we're dispatching their allies, and most of them flee, especially from Donald's magic. What they don't understand, they fear, which is fine by us. Only Hopper remains. He must think that he can take us on at once. Or maybe he's hoping that we'll die or at least be injured.

We clear the Heartless out when it starts to thunder. It's not Donald this time, either. We were so busy fighting that we hadn't realised that the skies had become thickly overcast, the clouds pregnant with rain. At this height, the drops of water will be about twice as big as us, if not more. It's a good thing all the ants are inside.

Flik sticks his head out of the anthill, calling us over to safety.

Hopper sees him.

He plummets faster than I could ever manage with these wings and pulls him straight out of the Earth. He climbs higher and higher, flying into the leaves where the rain can't hit him.

"Go inside, you two. Make sure no one else comes out!"

"Gawrsh, what about you, Sonic?"

"I'm going to rescue him and kill Hopper! No one takes my friends! **No one!**"

I leap into the sky myself, climbing much faster than I managed to do before. Anger drives me onwards. A few Heartless try to snatch me out of the air, but the Keyblades make short work of them. We dance through the bare branches, heading towards open sky, Hopper must be suicidal.

I lob the Kingdom Key D at Hopper, it being the only one I know will definitely come back to me. He drops Flik, stunned by the heavy impact. I swoop down and grab him, resting him on one of the branches.

"Don't ever try and save me again, Flik! You almost got killed!"

"I'll remember that next time, yes!"

I'm about to leave him so that I can see to Hopper, but he's too fast. I quickly grab Flik again and speed off. He says to go in the opposite direction of the anthill: 'I've got a plan' he says. Well, I know just how his last 'plan' worked out, but I do as I'm told. I dodge the rain, scared that one will catch me off guard and break my wing or something more permanent. Hopper does the same, I presume, but I can't see him. He's more agile than I am, so he's probably not having this much trouble. We get to where Flik told me to go, and I get an insight into what he wants to do. I drop him down behind a bush.

"Sonic? What are you doing?!"

"I know what you're trying to do, Flik, but you'll die!"

"And you **won't?!**"

"Exactly."

I fold my wings behind me and run off **towards** Hopper, a not so nice change. He lands in front of me. I play the scared butterfly.

"No, please! I can explain!"

"You think it's over? All your little stunt did was buy them time! I'll get more grasshoppers and be back next season, but you won't, Sora."

He grabs my neck, squeezing it tightly. Lights flash before my eyes.

"Any last words?"

"My... name... isn't... Sora."

I kick him hard in the nuts. If he thought **his** legs were strong, he's been put in his place! I get my breath back while he staggers around in agony.

"It's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

A twitter comes from above me. Hopper looks almost amused, ironically.

"What's this? Another one of Flik's bird tricks?"

"Yep."

"Are there a bunch of little **girls** inside?"

"You got it."

"Oh, I'm so scared!"

He should be. The **real** bird, the same one that tried to eat me and Dot a day ago, screams in his face. He pales and tries to run, but gets caught up in the rain. The bird seems to play with him before picking it up in its beak, flying over to the nest and feeding him to a bunch of hatchlings. I pick myself up.

It goes for me next.

I don't even quiver. The bird almost picks me up too, but stops short. It stares at me with its ebony eyes before flapping its wing to shoo me away. I do so gladly, but not before picking Flik up, who looks surprised.

"Why didn't it eat you?"

"Two reasons. One: it remembers that I'm the one that jabbed it in its eye. Two: I'm not from this world, and it must have known. It was **afraid** to eat me. People are always afraid of the things they don't understand."

The sky clears on the way back like some dramatic movie. I'm quite glad, actually, because I ache everywhere that **can** ache, and I can't imagine Flik feels much better. We fly slowly, exhausted yet triumphant. I **hate** grasshoppers. I **love** birds!

The anthill is in silence when we get back. The whole colony and the circus bugs and Donald and Goofy are outside in the sun, their heads bowed in quiet respect for Flik and I, who they think must have died in the rain. Atta and Dot look especially distraught: Atta for Flik and Dot for me. I can't see their tears from here, but there must be lots.

As I fly closer, my wings cast fluttering shadows on the ground. Atta is the first to notice and look up. I can't see her face, or hear her cry, but suddenly everyone present is staring at us. There's an awkward silence before everyone bursts into rapturous applause.

I do an almost crash landing when my wings give out. Everyone important bursts forward it make sure we're alright. We're both immediately confined to the medical ward **yet again** while the ants prepare something. Something big, by the sounds of it.

When Doctor Flora finally lets us leave, the ants have erected several podiums, each with a different noble ant on it. It looks like a graduation. Atta calls for the 'warrior bugs', meaning all of us foreigners.

"Ants, we are gathered here to witness the thanksgiving of these brave creatures. Your interventions saved countless lives and freed us all from tyranny's grasp. For this we thank you. You have all earned your right to stay here, if you wish."

They look happy. No more aimless travelling for them!

"Donald. Goofy. Sonic. You were perhaps the bravest of us all, fighting to protect us from the Heartless. You prevailed even through the stormy weather, and against our stormy judgements of you. You have also gained the right to stay here, if you wish."

The Queen's next, and calls **me** forward. This must be important.

"Sonic. We can't even begin to thank you enough: you single-handedly saved us all from Hopper, and you saved one of our own along with it. You fought through the rain and the fear and came out on top. I think I remember you asking me for something."

"The Keyhole?"

"Mm-hmm. I shall show you the Keyhole myself."

"Thank you, your majesty!"

"Now, we have just survived a terrible tragedy that could've ended in the loss of many lives. This calls for some celebration!"

The ants cheer and the third party I've been to goes underway. The ants sure like to party! The Queen takes Me, Donald, Goofy, Flik, Atta and Dot down into the anthill. This must be for the eyes of important people only. It shows just how much Flik has become accepted.

We reach the audience chamber after a few minutes of walking, catering for poor Flik who is the only one who can't fly. The chamber is filled with more bioluminescent mushrooms, and a dais formed from flowers stands above all. The Queen disappears behind the dais, searching for something.

"What lies beyond this room is our greatest secret, kept from even the other ants. As Queen, it is my duty to ensure that this room **remains **a secret; however I think I can make an exception for you four. Atta and Dot, someday it will fall up **you** to protect the Keyhole."

She pulls something and the whole dais slides to the side. I wonder where the ants got the technology to do that. We all descend down into the depths. There isn't any light down here, so Donald uses magic to illuminate the passage, and Goofy reflects it off his shield to show the bottom.

I'm not entirely prepared for what comes next.

This is **nothing** like the keyhole in Beast's Castle. The whole room is covered with cave drawings, showing bugs with Keyblades coming and sealing the Keyhole, and generally saving people. The Keyhole must just pop open every once in a while, if this many Keyblade Bearers were needed. An indentation surrounded by ivy is set high into the wall, but there isn't actually a Keyhole in it.

"It is said that the Keyhole shall reveal itself to the Keyblade Bearer when the time is right. And I think this is that time."

She's right, because the Keyhole shimmers into existence in the arch. Atta, Dot and Flik are mesmerised by its glow, which hardly has any effect on the rest of us. I suppose, being from different worlds, we're not affected in the same way. That's probably why the bird didn't want to eat me. I summon the Kingdom Key and point it at the Keyhole. It emits a ray of light into the Keyhole, sealing the world.

"You majesties, the Heartless won't bother you anymore. But, if they ever **should** start causing problems again, wish for us to come with all your hearts, and we'll surely hear you."

"Does this mean you're leaving?"

"It does."

"Gawrsh, sorry to leave you like this, but we have other worlds that need protecting too."

"I understand. You've been more of a help to us than we could ever tell you."

"That's OK. I think we understand too."

We climb back up to the surface where, surprise surprise, the circus bugs are saying goodbye. Pity. They just earned the right to stay and all.

"I want to thank **all** of you," says Atta with finality. "For giving us back our hope, our dignity, and our lives!"

"And to you, Princess Atta, you have given us so much. Please accept this gift."

Manny magic's up a rock from behind a leaf. The ants look confused.

"You know, I think this is the first direct use of magic that this world has seen, besides Donald. Maybe it'll spread, and they'll all become magic weavers."

"I doubt it, Sonic. They've got a good thing here as it is."

"Well, Flik. You really goofed up," says Rosie, tearing up. "Thanks."

"Yeah... You too," says Flik, also tearing up. Everyone stats applauding him; a much better reception than he got when we first met. The Queen laughs, slips Atta's crowd off her head, and places her own crown there instead. Atta laughs too and tossed her old crown to Dot who catches it on her head like a Frisbee.

P. T. Flea, obviously deciding that he's had enough of all this soppy stuff, drives the wagon on, taking with him some of the ants and one of the grasshoppers who's reformed and joined the circus business. Heimlich's chrysalis breaks open, and he becomes a butterfly. A very obese and flightless butterfly, but a butterfly none the less. His wings aren't as pretty as mine, though. No wonder people keep thinking I'm a girl.

Dot, Atta and I fly Flik up onto a root to wave goodbye to the leaving circus. The ants start firing grass shoots into the sky, creating something which resembles a fireworks display.

"You know, it'll be really quiet after you all leave."

"Yeah, but I'm sure the new management will keep everyone busy. Besides, you might see us again, if we ever need to come back!"

"What are you going to do now, Sonic?"

"We're gonna travel the worlds and seal up the Keyholes so that the Heartless don't devour them. Then, we're going to find the King of Disney Castle, who is **also **a Keyblade bearer and the true owner of the inverted Keyblade which I carry around, find Sora, who is the owner of the Kingdom Key, and then I don't know."

"Well, whatever will be will be, right?"

"You'll make a wise ruler, I'm sure."

She blushes and grasps Flik's hand in her own. I'm glad that they're finally together. Donald and Goofy fly up to our level too.

"C'mon, Sonic, we gotta go!"

"... Take care you guys."

"We should be saying that to **you.**"

I give them all one last hug before flying off myself, to the applause of the ants. I could really make a habit out of saving other worlds like this.

"You know, Sonic. If you could use your Chaos Energy like magic, you'd have been able to heal yourself and Flik!"

"A-hyuk! You'd be able to fight better as well!"

"Yeah, but how am I gonna learn?"

"Yen Sid said Merlin could help. We should go back to Traverse Town and see him."

"Maybe some of my friends have showed up to."

"Gawrsh, I hope so."

"Me too."

Looks like we have our next destination.


	8. Two Tails in Traverse Town

Two Tails in Traverse Town

Yet **another **Traverse Town section. I'm going to be overusing this place a **lot,** as it'll be the place where most of the characters from Mobius turn up eventually. You'll see when we get there...

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

The instant we land in Traverse Town, we can tell something is up.

There a lot of noise, and by a lot of noise, I mean ear-splitting, headache-making, neighbour-annoying noise. The scrape of metal on metal and the fizzing of electricity echo through the empty streets. Everyone must've gone into hiding when the noise started. I don't blame then, and really want to follow suit, but I should probably go find out what all the fuss is about.

The noises are coming from the Accessory Shop. We all arm ourselves, ready for the worst, and charge in!

Nothing much.

A trapdoor is open in the floor, the insides flashing occasionally with the sparks of electricity I mentioned before. Some smoke occasionally seeps out. Someone must be tinkering. Whatever it is, they should soundproof that room! A set of ladders lead down into the depths of the pit. I don't really want to go down them.

"Do we have to?" I ask.

"Gawrsh, we probably should. What if someone is hurt?" states Goofy.

"If they were hurt, they wouldn't be making this much racket," I reply.

"I wanna see what's going on anyway! Sounds like it could be Cid. He's a good mechanic," explains Donald.

"Cid?" I question.

"He used to build new Gummi ships for us, back when we first met Sora," explains Goofy.

"He helped us go to other worlds!" exclaims Donald.

"I sure hope he's OK down there..." ponders Goofy.

"OK, OK, I get it. We'll go see what's happening," I retort.

The abuse of verbs over, Donald and Goofy climb down the ladder first, seeing as I figure they know more about what's down here than I do. I don't want to impale myself on anything. The ladder isn't very long, which must mean that the room isn't very deep underground, which must be why everyone can hear all the noise. The room is dark apart from the flares emitted by the welders and the scattered lamps around the room.

"Cid? You in here, pal?" Goofy asks to no one in particular. A clatter sounds from the other side of the room as pieces of junk are moved aside.

"Didn't I tell yer' not to bother me when I'm busy doin'..."

Cid emerges from the rubble. His sandy blonde hair and thick muscles stand out against the machinery he's been working on. He does a double take when he see's us, before quickly wiping the dirt and oil off his face, making himself look a bit more presentable.

"Oh, if it ain't you two! Ne'er thought I'd see **you** agen'. Sorry, I thought yer' were Cloud. He's bin' botherin' me a lot lately, tryin' to get a ship so he can go find Sephiroth agen'."

"Don't let him! It's best if he stays here!"

"That's what we bin' tellin' him, but he ain't listenin'. Now, who's this?"

"I'm Sonic. Nice to meet you, Cid."

"You too. Say, you're the one that Leon an' the others found the other day, ain't yer'?"

"Yeah."

"Left in quite a mood, I heard, but it seems like yer' in good hands now. Speakin' of good hands, where's Sora? Ain't he normally with you two?"

"I'm... kinda a replacement Sora for now. No one can get to him, and he hasn't appeared, so I'm going around sealing the Keyholes instead."

"That's a mighty big job yer' attempting there, kid."

"I can handle it."

"If y'all say so. Another new person just arrived a few days ago. Pity y'all weren't here to see him. Ne'er seen a two tailed fox before! Mind you, ne'er seen a blue hedgehog, neither."

"Two tails? Was he yellow and good with machines?"

"That's the one! You know him?"

"Oh, thank **God** he's OK! I was starting to think I'd never see him again! Where is he now?"

"I think Leon an' the others are takin' care of him back at the empty house in the Third District."

"The one that they use as the Secret Headquarters?"

"Yeah, only it ain't so secret. What'd y'all come down here for anyhow?"

"You were making a lot of noise. We just wondered if everything was OK."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Makin' noise is what I do! That fox and I have bin' goin' over blueprints for the Gummi Ship, but he went for a rest. Poor kid just doesn't know when to quit."

"That's **definitely** him. Thanks a lot, Cid."

"Stay safe, kid."

We exit the workshop, leaving Cid to his machines. I wonder why it took so long for Tails to appear. I suppose I can ask all about that when we meet. Instead of going through the Second District, which is probably crawling with Heartless, we cut through the plaza straight to the Third District. There are still loads of Heartless everywhere, even more than before. And I thought I was getting rid of them, too.

Heartless vanquished, I knock on the door to the empty house. It isn't that empty, because Aerith opens the door. She smiles softly when she sees me, like she's been waiting for me to appear. I smile back and go into the house.

All the ones who picked me up right at the start of this disaster are here, minus Merlin, who I **really** need to see. Everyone, including a certain fox, who charges straight over and wraps both arms around my waist, crying loudly. He's only eight years old, after all, stranded in a foreign world. I pat him gently on the head, waiting for him to calm down.

"... I thought... I'd... never see you again..."

"Now, now, Tails. You didn't think I'd leave you by yourself, did you? Chin up, bro. We're safe now."

After he calms down enough to let go of me, he sits on the bed. I plonk myself down next to him, while everyone takes some of the random seats scattered on the floor. It looks like story time in a primary school.

"What happened to **you,** Sonic?"

"Let's start with you, first. My story is a bit long."

"Ok, then. Well, after Knuckles let go of your hand, I tried to fly us both off, but... I wasn't strong enough. Knuckles weighs an awful lot. It must be his muscles mass. We fell into the ocean, and we got pulled down by this tar-like stuff. Sonic, I thought I was going to **die.** Knuckles and I got separated, and then this bright white light came out of nowhere and snatched me away! I think I was in a coma or something, because I woke up later and I was here. I wandered around for a bit, shouting your name to see if you were here, but you didn't answer. Then Yuffie found me, and brought me here."

"He appeared a few days after you left, Sonic. I brought him here because I figured you be coming back at some point," explains the girl in the boots, who must be Yuffie. Strange name.

"What about you?"

"Well... Do you want the whole thing or the abridged version?"

"I've been stuck in this town for almost a week now, worrying about where everyone else is, and what I was going to do, and everything you could possibly worry **about.** I want every detail!"

"Well... After Knuckles let go of my hand and you fell into the sea, I managed to seal the Keyhole in the Master Emerald, but I fell into the ocean too. I tried to Chaos Control away, had a dream about mosaic's and a massive husk with thorns, which I defeated, got crushed by, and then saved from by a guy with big ears. Then I woke up here, Chaos Controlled to a place called Twilight Town and talked to a guy called Yen Sin, whose fairies gave me new clothes."

"Fairies?"

"Let me finish. Then, I went to this castle on another world with a beast and a beauty living inside, saved them, removed the curse on the castle and freed everyone from their imprisonment. Then, we went to this bug world, where Donald turned us all into bugs. I could fly! It was great. We helped this ant colony fight off a swarm of grasshoppers and Heartless and then came back here to learn magic from Merlin, who apparently isn't here."

"... That's..."

"Unbelievable? I'm used to it now."

"But, magic doesn't exist!"

This gets quite a response from the spectators; a mixture of disbelief, disgust, and disagreement. And other things that begin with 'dis'.

"It does **here. **We're not from a world that has magic, so we can't use it. Apparently Merlin can show me how to manipulate Chaos Energy in the same way. If only he was here..."

"Well, just go to him," says the moody looking guy. Seeing as he's the only male human around here, that must make him 'Leon'. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and Cid. What a crowd. "You can get to his house through the door near here. It has a flame on it."

"Can I come, Sonic?"

"Don't see why not? Is that OK, guys?"

"Sure! Any friend of Sonic's is a friend of ours," says Goofy, giving Tails as affectionate noogie. They both laugh. Donald doesn't look impressed **again.** I ask him what's wrong. He says he doesn't like people tagging along. I tell him to lighten up.

The instant we step out of the house we're bombarded by Heartless again. We all protect Tails, seeing as he's the only one unable to defend himself. He looks a bit uneasy when Donald starts firing blizzard spells at them. Magic. It takes a while to get used to it.

When the area is looking more Heartless-free, we reach the door. There isn't a handle or doorknob to open it with. Why it is never easy? Donald shakes his head exasperatedly and opens the door with a fire spell. I don't ask how that could possibly work. It's easier not to think about it.

And then I meet my greatest enemy!

**Water.**

A whole lake stretches out in front of us, pulsing in tides that couldn't possibly exist in here. In the middle is a house on an island, connected to the main land by a series of enchanted stepping stones, which sway from side to side hypnotically. I can't get past the amount of water. And so deep...

I send Tails a look. He knows what I'm thinking.

"Come on, Sonic," yells Goofy, already halfway there. "You're not afraid, are ya'?"

"Eh... About that..."

"What? I can't hear you! Sorry!"

"... Nothing. Never mind."

I take a few cautious steps backward, timing myself, before taking a running leap forward and onto the first stone. I rocks dangerously when I land on it, threatening to spill me into the water, to my imminent embarrassment. It calms down, returning to the tranquil swaying it was doing before. I gulp a deep breath of air, not realising I'd been holding it when the rock was rocking.

I make it to the other side dry and in one peace, thankfully. Donald raises a figurative eyebrow; I shrug and try and open the door. It's locked, and I don't think a fire spell is going to open it this time. I hammer exasperatedly on the door. After I just risked my life, too!

"Calm down, Sonic!" says Tails, with a slight tone of shock.

"You know, there's an entrance around the side..."

I growl quietly under my breath and check around the side. Sure enough, there's a massive gaping hole in the wall which I can climb through. The inside of the house is completely bare, and even more Merlin-less. What a day. I slap my face with a palm. Going home never felt like a more comfortable idea.

A poof of smoke appears out of nowhere in particular and Merlin reveals himself.

"About time!"

"Patience, my dear boy. I have one thing to do before we get down to business!"

He puts his duffel bag on the floor and opens it. He starts doing a crazy dance and various household objects start flying out and arranging themselves in the room. I duck to avoid being clobbered over the head with an entire bookcase of books. The room goes from bare to homely within about three minutes. Impressive.

"Now, what was it you needed me for?"

"Magic! Help!"

"I was under the impression that the three good fairies would help you on that note."

"No such luck."

"They said he couldn't use magic at all!"

"No magic?! Well, that **is** peculiar."

"Can you help? I've got this Chaos Emerald that my clothes are supposed to let me use better, but there hasn't been a difference yet."

"I presume you've been using the Chaos Emerald in the way you'd normally use it, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Therein lies the problem! You must forget that it is not magic, and use it as if it **was** magic!"

"Say what?"

"In order to get the most out of the Chaos Emerald you must mould it and use it like you would magic, otherwise you'll be restricting yourself."

"Can you teach me?"

"Of course I can! Now, follow me."

He claps his hands and the raised platform in the middle of the room shudders before descending downwards. Merlin steps on it before it gets too far away: I don't think his knees could take the force if he jumped. Mine can and do. I just wasn't expecting it, is all. Donald, Goofy and Tails stay upstairs so they don't get in the way of my learning. Or get hit by my badly aimed spells, if I manage to cast any at all.

When the platform stops moving down, Merlin steps off, followed by me. We're in a nicely furnished underground room with lots of targets all over the place. It's a good place for me to make a mess of things.

"Now, my boy, you'll need a Keyblade. Which hand are you better with?"

"My right," I reply, summoning the Kingdom Key that I carry in that hand.

"What have you been doing with the Chaos Emerald before you came to me?"

"I healed myself a lot. I got into quite a few scrapes."

"I can only imagine! Now, healing yourself is like second nature to you, what? We're going to extend this power so that you can heal others as well. Or is that already possible?"

"Nah. The Chaos Energy won't go that far."

"Very well. Now, in order to use Chaos Energy like magic, you must forget that it isn't magic. In order to use magic, you must give it form with your mind. To heal yourself, what do you do?"

"I just... imagine that it's healing me, and then it does."

"I'm going to give you some of my magic to boost your power. Don't look at me like that! It won't hurt! It'll be stored it your clothes until you need it. Now, close your eyes. This'll sting if it gets in them."

I shut my eyes, feeling the familiar sensation of warmth barely washing over me. When I open them again, Merlin looks a little out of breath.

"My boy, you seem to **resist** magic, as well as not being able to use it! You must come from a world **very** far away."

"Did it work, though?"

"I believe so. Now, to heal others, just imagine that they're being healed. It'll be hard, as it's easier to imagine yourself being healed, even if you can't see your wounds. Practise makes perfect, after all!"

"Can I practise down here?"

"There are no injuries to practise **on.**"

"Touché."

"Now, you would like some offensive magic, yes?"

"Please. I had a nasty run-in with a bird the other day."

"Fire would do nicely, then. You can probably manage this without the aid of my magic. The way Sora did this was to have **two** different forms of the same spell: one which would allow him to send fireballs flying through the air, and one which would allow him to surround himself with flames. He used different spells in different situations. Do you understand this?"

"One for far enemies, and one for near. Got it."

"To use the power of Fire you must gather this Chaos Energy inside yourself. Forget the limitations of the power that you're familiar with, and instead mould it with your mind. Imagine it being hot and powerful, and it shall become so. When you're ready, launch it from the end of your Keyblade."

"Huh. Chaos Energy really **does** turn your thoughts into power! I suppose I'll give it a shot."

I stand still for a few moments, drawing on the energy inside the Chaos Emerald. I would normally release it instantly to get immediate effects, so bottling it up like this is strange. I imagine it being fire, and immediately get singed on the inside, which **kills!** I try and imagine it **not** killing me, and it seems to work. Looks like I'm imagining the power inside of me too literally. How does Merlin **do** this?!

When I feel the flames are powerful enough, I push them out the tip of the Keyblade. The power vibrates down my arm; the Keyblade glows red with fire, and then...!

Nothing.

I frown. Merlin laughs.

"Not bad for a first attempt! You can build up the Chaos Energy easily, but you need to focus on releasing it more. It seems you have control issues."

"Why out of the Keyblade?"

"You ask a lot of question, my boy."

"I'll understand it better if I know **why** I'm doing it."

"The Keyblade is your weapon, therefore an extension of your body. Fighting with it should be second nature. The same goes for me and my wand, when I use it. Shooting magic out of the end of your weapon gives you something more solid to focus on, therefore makes it easier than if you tried to make it appear out of thin air. In theory, you don't need to shoot it out of your Keyblade, but it's much easier to do so.

"Oh."

"Now, try again."

I do. I build the energy up, making sure not to let it hurt me in the process. This time I get better results, and a fireball travels the length of the room. Unfortunately it's the size of a bean bag and almost knocks down the wall. Merlin sighs and shakes his head in exasperation.

"You released too **much** this time! It seems that you either go too far, or not far enough. You'll find the balance the more you try and use it, but the bigger the spell the more exhausted the Chaos Emerald will become. I would suggest leaving it for now so that it can recover. You've got the basics anyway."

We ascend the platform again, feeling a little downhearted. At least **I** am. Donald, Goofy and Tails are trying to hold the furniture up for some reason. Merlin rights everything with a wave of his hand. He makes it look ridiculously easy.

"What happened, Sonic?" asks Tails. "There was a boom and everything started falling down!"

"Let's just say that magic is harder than it looks. And it's a good thing you all weren't down there with us, or you'd all be missing your heads."

They find this hilarious and start laughing hysterically. Especially Donald, who can use magic himself. When they've calmed down, Merlin finishes the lesson.

"Remember, Sonic: magic – and indeed Chaos Energy – is controlled purely by the person using it. If you're angry or frightened or generally feeling anything other than what you'd normally feel the end results may not be what you expect them to be. The fact that you couldn't control the Chaos Energy today reflects the fact that you can't control **yourself,** either. If you manage to get your own feelings and actions under control, you should see a dramatic difference in your spells."

"I'm not sure whether to be encouraged or insulted."

"Case in point."

"Also, Merlin. The fairies said something about Drive Forms..."

"Oh, yes! A Drive Form is when the three of you use magic to combine your souls together to gain access to new abilities and powers. You need to fully trust each other to manage to do this. I'd say you and Goofy are probably capable of it."

We exchange high fives. Donald pouts.

"I'd say you need more control before attempting this, though, if your magic is anything to go by. Don't try it until you can use the Fire spell I taught you properly."

"Aww, c'mon! Pretty please?"

"Sora was never this stubborn. I'm afraid I won't teach you how until I think you're ready."

"Cheer up, Sonic," says Goofy, patting my shoulder gently, careful of the spines. "We'll manage it. I know we will!"

"Sure. If only **you'd** come around, too, Donald."

"I'm not going to trust you until you prove yourself!"

"I'm not going to argue with you!"

"Good! Me neither!"

Marlin pinches his nose and shakes his head. We've got a **long** way to go.

"Is there anything else you need here?"

"I don't think so."

"Then please take your arguments somewhere else!"

"... Sorry."

Tails gives me a hug.

"This is goodbye again, isn't it."

"We'll be back."

"I hope so."

He detaches himself from me, wiping at his eyes to stop the tears before they ever happen. I pat him on the shoulder offering silent comfort and support. He's grateful, I think.

"Let me know if anyone else shows up."

"How will I get in touch?"

Fair point. I turn to Donald and Goofy, who probably have a better idea of this that me. Donald pulls out a device from his feathers. It makes me wonder what else could possibly be in there.

"Give this to Cid! He'll connect it to the computers in Yuffie's hotel room. If you need us, just give us a call."

"Thanks. Take care you guys."

I nod. Now we've gotta get past all that **water! **Donald raises an eyebrow at me.

"You can't swim, can you?"

"... Uhh..."

I shrug. Everyone shakes their head at me.

"Don't worry! We can get to the Gummi Ship from here!"

He presses something on another do-hickey he pulls from behind him and we all get beamed up Star Wars style. I hope this next world has lots of places I can practise my magic in.

I'm gonna need it.


	9. The Duty to the Heart

The Duty to the Heart

Now we'll have another short world and chapter. Just imagine fighting lot's of Heartless occasionally and it'll seem like it fits! I personally **hate** this film (it lacks in action) but I thought I'd wrap the Mulan saga up. So, here ya go. Enjoy it! And who knew Sonic spoke Chinese?!

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

A few hours later we touchdown in the next world. We end up taking longer because we're going further away. Donald says something about being able to warp to worlds we've already been to, but I'm not really listening. My legs are starting to ache: I need a good stretch.

Looks like I've come to the right place for that!

The fields stretch on and on, undisturbed in their tranquillity. The sky is clear and the sun is warm. Much nicer than Traverse Town, which seems to be in a perpetual moonlit state. It's like being inside a poem here! Donald and Goofy looks relaxed as well: it might just be the scent of lavender on the wind.

"Have you two been here before?"

"Yeah. We helped a girl called Mulan pretend to be a boy to get into the army, and saved the whole of China!"

China, huh? Reminds me an awful lot of Chun-Nan.

"Hey, if we're in China, how will anyone know what we're saying?"

"I've never noticed that before. I guess everyone just understands each other regardless of what language we're speaking."

Come to think of it, if I concentrate enough, it **does** sound like Donald and Goofy are talking in a different language. Magic come in handy sometimes. The scenery of the world is spoiled by a battle going on in the distance. I squint: its three guys trying to fight off some Heartless.

"Gawrsh, we better help them."

"Looks like our cue, boys!"

We charge forward with a similar battle cry to the ones that the men are making, only with more vigor. We chop through the Heartless, making sure not to take any human heads off in the process. I'm surprised they couldn't hold their own with these monsters: they've got **swords!**

They look happy to see us. Gee, I wonder why.

"Hey, it's you two! I thought we'd never see you again!"

"Nice to see you too! How's the quest for the girls worth fighting for doing?"

"... Not so good. Though Yao here has his eye set on one, right... **there!**"

The skinny one points at the wagon, where three regal women are hesitantly stepping out onto the grass. The three musketeers must be guarding them.

"Are... Are they gone?"

"Yeah. We just took care of them."

They step out fully and bow to us. They must be princesses, dressed like that.

"Thank you very much. We never knew the road to Qui Gong would be so dangerous."

"Bù kè qi. Now, what are all of you doing out here?"

"Oh no! That's official imperial business!" exclaims the skinny one. "Not even **you** can know about it!"

"Donald! Goofy!"

A young woman comes riding over on her horse, beaming at us. A stern looking man follows on **his** horse. If he'd relax a bit he'd be quite handsome. I think he's just having a stressful day. Mulan jumps down off her horse unceremoniously, while the man takes his time. Like Yin and Yang, those two, and I haven't even met them properly!

"Mulan! Nice to see you again!" yells Donald.

"You too! Oh, who's this?"

"Sonic. I just saved these goons from their impending demise."

They don't take kindly to this. Mulan just laughs, probably aware at how... ungainly they are. Donald and Goofy salute the stern man, calling him General Li Shang. Shang will do just fine.

"What brings you here? And where's Sora?"

"We don't know where Sora is. And we're here to seal the Keyhole! You know where it is?"

"No, sorry. The Emperor might know, but we're kinda in the middle of something."

"Well, let us help! The sooner this thing is done the sooner we can go ask this guy."

Shang shakes his head. Mulan goes to say something, but he holds an arm out to silence her. He isn't exactly a feminist.

"I'm sorry, but we've got enough soldiers as it is. Any more and we'll be slowed down."

Everyone looks discouraged. I think they we're hoping for the extra protection. Well, I'm not standing for that!

"Excuse me, Mr. High-and-Mighty, but **who** was it that just defeat the Heartless?"

"... You?"

"And **who** was it that saved your troops and princesses?"

"... You."

"And **who** is it that is offering their help with no demands for pay or even rewards in general?"

"OK, OK, I get the picture. You're worse than Mulan! If you want to accompany us, I suppose there's no stopping you."

"Glad you saw it my way. Now, why are we all standing around? Don't we have things to do?"

Everyone starts to look livelier now that the crew has increased from eight to eleven. Mulan and Shang pull fishing rods out of the carriage and go to catch dinner. There are sparks happening between those two, but I think they already know that. The three give me their names – Chien-Po, Yao and Ling – and say something about scouting ahead for more Heartless. They just want to impress the three beautiful women in the carriage. I notice that some of the boxes have fallen off the back of the wagon, and I go to pick them up. One of the princesses is already doing my job for me.

"Oh, don't worry. I've got it," I tell her. She fiddles with her sash before finally blurting out what's on her mind.

"Why did you help us? I mean, we we're probably just any old people being attacked! You could've walked straight by!"

"Well, that wouldn't be very nice, would it? Is there some kind of subliminal message in that?"

She doesn't look put off by my blunt tone. Good.

"... I was wondering... What we're you thinking?"

"When I saved you?"

"Yeah! Did your duty tell you to, or did your heart?"

"Well, I'm not very good with duty. I've never really had it before, until now. I'd say that my duty and my heart we're telling me to do the same thing, but that's not the answer you want, is it? If they were different I'd say... my duty **was** to my heart."

"Really? How do you know?"

"Well, duty is resolute. It never changes, but the heart **can** change. If something was the right thing to do my heart would **tell** me that, but my duty would tell me to do what's expected of me, which isn't always the best thing to do. What if doing my duty would hurt others? Following my heart is more likely to make people happy, including myself, which is what's important."

"I... see. Thank you."

"That's OK, princess. Now, what's all this talk to do with you?"

"Oh! I... Uhh... Shouldn't really talk about that to a guy... You **are** a guy, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It must be strange to see people like Donald, Goofy and I who aren't exactly normal. But, we're still people, so you should still let me help."

"..."

"It's to do with **Yao,** isn't it?"

"Oh, alright! Well, he's just so... so..."

"Strong?"

"Very!"

"Rough on the outside yet soft on the inside?"

"Of course!"

"You **like** him, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"He likes you back."

"You think? Oh, what's the point of thinking about it?"

"Why? Sounds like a match made in heaven."

"Well, we're princesses. We're going to marry three princes in Qui Gong, so that our province isn't attacked and destroyed by the Mongols. We have to be married in three days, or things will go bad."

"I **hate** arranged marriages."

"Me too, but-"

"It's your duty to marry a prince, but you're heart is in love with Yao. Princess, in situations like these, I would say that patience is a good thing to have. Everything should turn out OK. Look at Mulan and Shang!"

"How do you know of them being together?"

"I didn't! It's just obvious! They're like Yin and Yang: two opposites. You can Yao are too. You can only hope, right?"

"I suppose."

"Now, shouldn't you be with your sisters? We're probably ready to make tracks before more Heartless show up."

"OK. Thanks..."

"The name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. Guì xìng?"

"Mei. Nice use of the language."

"Xiè xie. Now, hop to it!"

She giggles, her nerves soothed a little bit. I'm good at this pep talking thing! She climbs back into the wagon just as Yao, Ling and Chien-Po come back. They say there's no Heartless nearby, which is good. We've only got three days left! Mulan and Shang come back with three more horses. They bought them off the local farmers, they explain, for the three extra guests. We accept them gratefully; my feet are killing me after wandering around Traverse Town a while ago.

When Shang gets on his horse his saddle flips the wrong side up. Donald, Goofy and I start laughing at him. Mulan unbuckles **her** saddle so that she swings around to the same level as Shang and plants a kiss on his cheek. They're like two love-struck fools. After they right themselves to the cries of 'Aww!' and 'Get a room!' we finally make tracks. I barely catch a glimpse of a seething red flash dashing into Mulan's knapsack. It's probably me seeing things.

A surprising amount of bad things happen to Shang on the way; it only gets worse as we go along. He ends up being frequently chased around by animals or being set alight. I'm starting to get suspicious, and I **know** Donald and Goofy are feeling to same way. I finally manage to catch the little red flash before it gets away. It's a dragon with a bandage on its head, surprisingly.

"Are you **trying **to split them up or something?!"

"Hey, now, don't look at me like that! I'm only trying to help them!"

"Gawrsh, how is this **helping** them, Mushu?"

"Oh, hey you two. Butting in as usual."

"Hey!"

"Stop changing the subject, lizard!"

"I'm not a lizard, thank you! I'm a dragon!"

"**Sure** you are."

"You know what? Fine. I was only trying to do a little good for my girl, 'cause those two are so different, this love thing is never gonna work!"

"I don't know. They look happy."

"Are you sure this isn't one of you self-absorbed schemes again?"

"No way! Mulan is my girl, man! I just want me... I mean **her** to be happy!"

"She looks happy without your input."

"That's what you think. You, coming in here from another world. I'm a dragon! What on Earth are you?!"

"A hedgehog."

"**Sure **you are."

He jumps down out of my grasp and lands underneath the wagon.

"I put my heart and soul into making this girl happy, and what do I have to show for it? Good ancestors, take me now!"

He hammers on the wheel with his fists, knocking the whole thing loose and getting tangled up at the same time. The wagon careers off downhill at too fast a pace for any normal person to catch up with. Any **normal** person. I hop off my horse and give chase. I hope the princesses are OK.

When I catch up to the runaway wagon it's picked up Yao, Ling and Chien-Po. Mulan and Shang have caught up too. Mei and Su are thrown out of the wagon and onto the safety of the horses, but Ting-Ting gets her foot caught. And she's heading straight for a cliff. Brilliant. I jump in the wagon and yank Ting-Ting's foot out from the floor in one swift movement.

The whole wagon tips downwards, and I just know we're falling.

If we're in the wagon, we'll get dashed to pieces. Besides, I usually land on my feet. I chuck Ting-Ting and I out of the small window moments before the wagon is destroyed. I take a moment of relief, before actually looking down.

**Water.**

Why is there always **water?!**

If we hit that, I'm drowning. I remember back to what Merlin said; if I give Chaos Energy form, it'll work like magic. I don't know if I can fly with it unless I've got all seven! He also said to control myself. Well, forget control! I'm going to die! I shut my eyes and collect the Chaos Energy within me. Luckily it's a long way down, so I have time.

Once I'm ready to burst with power, I summon the Kingdom Key, holding onto a screaming Ting-Ting with one hand, and release the energy. My whole body tears itself in two with the raw power of the spell. My ears are filled with screaming, but I don't know who it belongs to anymore. I'm vaguely aware of bright white light filling me and everything around me, until it's all that I can see. All that I can **feel.**

Then I hit something hard and everything goes blank.

...

When I wake up I'm in a tent. And my head hurts. In fact **everything** hurts. What on Earth did I do?! And is everyone else OK? They must be, or who would have built this tent? I'm alone: Donald and Goofy must have wanted to give me room. I wonder how long I've been out for. I hurt too much to get up and check.

I manage to pull the Chaos Emerald out from my quills. It looks dull. That spell must've used up a **lot** of energy. I use a small amount of whatever's left to ease my pain, but not enough to heal me fully. I don't want to make it run out when I've got no back-up.

I manage to sit up in time to see Shang's silhouette storm out of his own tent. I wonder what's up. I debate following him. There's a muffled argument going on between him and Mulan. They both storm off back to their tents. Everyone's probably up now. They made a fair bit of noise. I suppose I'd better get up and see if everything's still in one piece.

It is.

They didn't take their anger out on the campsite, at least. The others must have constructed it while I was out. I can hear giggling and singing coming from the princesses' tent. At least I **think** it's the princesses' tent. I doubt anyone else in this campsite would be singing or dancing. I cough at the doorway, not wanting invade on their privacy. They **are** girls, after all.

"Who is it?" one of them calls. I think its Su.

"It's just me. I wanted to make sure you're all OK after we fell off the cliff."

There's a shuffling noise from inside the tent and the doors are thrown open. Mei drags me inside the tent, hardly proper behaviour for a Princess.

"We should ask you the same thing!"

"You did save me, after all," says Ting-Ting with a lot of logic.

"Oh, it was nothing. Just doin' my job."

They sit me down forcefully on one of the cushions.

"Can we ask you something?"

"Uhh... Sure."

"What's it like to be normal?"

"I don't think I'm the right one to ask. Look at me!"

"Well, because you're different it's OK to ask you! If we asked Yao or Ling or Chien-Po it'd be improper!"

"Well... I guess... What do you mean by normal?"

"Well, what would normal girls do?"

"I guess they'd be able to go for long walks whenever they wanted. And, eat whatever they wanted for tea. And wear whatever they wanted."

"Everything we can't, you mean?"

I give them all a look. I'm not sure whether they're sad or joyful. A mixture of both. Confusion, I think it's called.

"What is this about?"

"We're sick of being princesses! We want to be normal so we can marry the three guards!"

"Su! Shame on you for telling him that!"

"I knew it. You're all besotted."

"You'll be truthful with us, right?"

"I think I'm the only one who will."

"That's why we wanted to ask you! Do you think there's any chance of us ever being normal without letting down our country and our father?"

"Well, I suppose so. I mean, **I'm** technically royalty too, where I come from, but I live a free life."

"**You're** royalty?!"

"You'd never have guessed!"

"But, I have a brother and sister to take care of things for me, so I had the choice. I guess... yeah! Maybe you can be normal! You just have to trust that you will. And remember, Mei...!"

"You're duty is to your heart!"

"Right! Keep that in mind, and you should live a happy life."

"I never got to thank you properly," says Ting-Ting in a soft voice I never knew she could manage. "You risked yourself to save me, and you didn't really have to."

"What actually happened? I was too busy being unconscious."

"You mean you didn't see?!"

"Oh, it was **amazing!**"

"So pretty!"

"Come, let's all see it again!"

I'm dragged off by the princesses again. I seem to get a lot of that. I need to stop being such a pushover around royalty. We don't walk very far, but I'm still aware that I'm being dragged around a forest by three attractive ladies. I never felt happier to be a hedgehog and not a human before.

Then we reach the lake.

I know without asking that this is where we fell. The whole thing is solid ice! Even some of the lower rocks and the grass on the edge are encased in crystal. No **wonder** I got knocked out!

"Holy crud."

"That was what I thought when I landed on it! Well, I really landed on **you...** Sorry."

"That's OK. I wonder how long it'll take to thaw out. Mind you, I did do it with Chaos Energy, so maybe it'll **never** melt."

"It's pretty like this anyway! It'll be a reminder of the day we nearly all died!"

"You sound far too happy when you say that."

We head back to camp and sit around the fire, which is still burning brightly. The princesses scoop boiling tea out of the pot and sip it gracefully. Despite wanting to be like normal girls, they still have the manners of princesses. I cough to get their attention and chug the whole cup down in one go. The princesses laugh at their own elegance and do the same.

We're rudely interrupted by Yao, Ling and Chien-Po making quite an entrance. I used to think that only elephants and Knuckles could make that much noise! They look like they've been fighting. I can only imagine what over.

"Yao? Is something wrong?" asks Mei. He pulls himself together, standing up tall and straightening his tunic out to make him look more presentable. I sense a **moment** coming on here.

"Well, I leave you all **to it.** I'll be on the guard post, if you need me."

I leave them **to it** like I promised. I sit down on the edge of a cliff, watching out for any enemies, specifically Heartless. After that least attack, there doesn't seem to be any more around. It makes me suspicious. I was under the impression that there'd be **loads** and that they'd constantly attack us, but there hasn't been any. Maybe something's keeping them back. Whatever. I'm not good with profound thinking.

Mulan crashes through the undergrowth, looking peeved. **Very** peeved.

"Where are the princesses?!"

"Oh they just went off with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po down that hill over there. Look you can see them from here! Looks like they're going to that village."

"Sheesh. Just make sure Shang doesn't follow us. He's on a short fuse tonight."

"I **heard.** Just be careful, Mulan."

She jumps on her horse and rides off after the three pairs. Unfortunately, Shang rides off soon afterwards. Oh, what a **brilliant** guard I am. And still no sign of Donald and Goofy! I head back to the camp. They must've left footprints that I can follow. Donald and Goofy are already there, and they pounce on me when we reach each other.

"We thought you were **never** gonna wake up! You were out for three hours!"

"Where's everyone going? We saw them heading to the village!"

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't look good. Now, if you could just get **off** me we can go chase them down."

Donald and Goofy hop on a horse each, while I just prefer to run on my own two legs. There seems to be a festival going on in the town. There are lights everywhere and people are dancing. And you have the large traditional dragons, of course. Mushu must be feeling jealous of their large sizes, even though they're not real.

"Gawrsh, where could they all be?"

"Well, they stand out a lot. Hopefully we'll find them. Of course, we'll get a better view from above."

I point at a drainpipe, which leads to the rooftops. We shimmy up the side, trying not to draw any attention. Luckily, we're on a side of the house that isn't near the parade, so we get up unnoticed. The group seems to have split up, because Su and Chien-Po are at a food stall, Yao is wrestling to the adoration of Mei, and poor Ling is trying to make Ting-Ting laugh. He gets half-blown up by some firecrackers, which Ting-Ting **finally** laughs at. Man, that is one **ugly** laugh, but it's so rare, that it's beautiful in its own way. Sort of. At least Ling can appreciate it.

Mulan catches up to them when they're gazing at the moon in each other's arms. I'm content to sit back and watch the show, but Donald and Goofy spot something. Something **bad.** Shang. I don't want to be around to see this. Besides, if we're seen to be gone from our posts, the imminent row will probably make him yell at us. We exchange sorrowful looks and head back to the campsite.

It's bad. I knew it. Everyone is in dour spirits, especially compared to what they were like before. The tents and supplies are packed up immediately and the party moves out. The princesses sit solemnly on the back of a buffalo – the best anyone could do in these situations. It's like a funeral procession. Even worse is that fact that this is 'bandit country'. Read 'Heartless feeding grounds'.

Mulan and Mushu start arguing. I guess his conscience played him like a guitar. It was bound to come to this. Everyone is just argue, argue, argue. She suddenly starts galloping forward, looking happy. Guess she realised they were fighting over nothing.

Cue the Heartless to ruin the mood.

They jump down from the sides of the gorge we're in, trapping us. Not for long. Donald, Goofy and I start exterminating the pests, while the princesses and their guards leg it. Mulan and Shang hold their own too, but without weapons designed to combat Heartless, there's nothing they can do but defend themselves.

Mei starts screaming, the Heartless having managed to catch up to her. Chien-Po saves her by jumping on them and squashing them flat, minus the princess. Ling and Yao follow suit, dealing swift punches to hold the Heartless off. When we get there we cut them all to shreds. I was wondering when they'd all show up.

Two Heartless make off with Mei. Donald, Goofy and I leave the rest with the two remaining princesses in case they get hurt too. The Heartless start to cross a bridge, but we catch them up in time. They're super fat, and all our hits bounce off their guts. Goofy says something about Large Bodies. Suitable name.

I jump over their heads and whack them on the behind with my Keyblades, making them drop Mei, who runs into the arms of Yao. At least all the princesses are in one piece. The Large Bodies start bouncing on the bridge, trying to get it to collapse.

They get their wish.

The right side of the bridge gives way, sending the Heartless plummeting to their doom. We're smarter, though, and form a chain of hands. Shang grabs Mulan, who grabs Goofy, who grabs Donald, who grabs me, who grabs a stray bit of rope. We dangle suspended for a few moments, until the rope frays and eventually snaps.

We fall for a few moments before finally jerking to a stop. The rope's getting thinner, and I can feel that the Chaos Emerald is too drained from my ice lake earlier to teleport us all out of here. I can't even see the bottom of the ravine; it's that deep.

Shang looks down, and looks back up.

"The rope isn't going to hold us all."

We all get his meaning. Unfortunately, we're all too high up to stop him from letting go and falling. The rope stops fraying and everything is still, apart from the rain which streams from the skies. Chien-Po pulls the rope up with us all on it. I can't bear to look at Mulan. I don't want to see her tears.

We wait for the rain to pass. The mood is more sombre than before; the party down by one. Mulan doesn't leave the ruined bridge for a second. Only when the rain passes and the sun shines down once more does she stand. She says she'll finish the mission, even if she has to do it alone. For Shang, I suppose. Her determination and devotion reminds me of Amy. They'd get along famously.

Mulan leaves alone. She tries to, at least, but Donald, Goofy and I won't let her. She puts up a fight to start with, but I think she's so drained from the loss of her fiancée that she gives up quickly. We depart from the rest, which is odd because the princesses are supposed to be getting married. We find out her plan soon enough.

We arrive at the palace, a great gold and stone building that reaches to the heavens. We cause quite a stir getting into the place; we **are** a woman, dog, duck and hedgehog after all. Mulan somehow manages to get an audience with Lord Chin. He's a bit too big for his boots for my liking.

"Lord Chin, I am sorry to report that the princesses are gone."

"What do you mean **gone?!**"

"The royal carriage was swept away and destroyed."

"That **is** unfortunate, but it doesn't alter my agreement with the Emperor. If there is no marriage, then there is no alliance with the middle kingdom!"

"But, my lord, there **will be** a marriage. I would be honoured to marry a prince of Qui Gong."

Say what?

"This is not what was agreed. However, the Golden Dragon of Unity smiles on you today. And, in view of the tragedy, I will accept your offer. You will make a fine bride for my eldest son, Prince Chikee."

Mulan looks less than impressed. 'Chikee' is playing with a Chinese Finger Trap. What a dork. Mulan is shown to her chambers, where she gets dressed in her bridal gear. Us three, standing in as her bodyguards, follow. She looks **beautiful** as a bride, but so sad. Like a frozen rose.

"I would give up a thousand pedestals if it would stop this," says Mushu in a moment of enlightenment.

"I don't think even the Golden Dragon of Unity could stop this now," says Mulan. She picks up her headdress and walks to her imprisonment. She's strong. Stronger than I ever imagined.

"Hey, Mushu, is it possible to summon this dragon thing and get it to stop the wedding?"

"Nah. He's too high and mighty for this sorta stuff. It's all my fault."

"Well, what if there was a way to put this right?"

He looks at me, and I look at him. We both look at the dragon statue on the balcony. Innovative. Mushu runs off to do his thing, leaving the rest of us to step onto the balcony to watch the show. Mulan and Chikee are holding chalices attached by a ribbon. Neither she nor he looks happy.

Trust Shang to charge in and save it all.

We see him first, being higher up than everyone else. He throws a shuriken and slices through the sash; I have to commend him on his aim later. Mulan runs to him and gives him a big hug. Silly Mushu; thinking they weren't perfect for each other.

Lord Chin starts yelling at them, but we're too far away to hear what he's saying. Something about a 'sacred ceremony'. His guards charge in and separate the couple. Donald, Goofy and I are about to jump in and save them when a burst of flames licks the stage, scattering the soldiers like ants.

"Yo! What with all this drama?!"

The Golden Dragon of Unity is talking. Or should I say, Mushu inside the Golden Dragon of Unity's statue is talking. Like I said: innovative. Everyone bows, thinking it's the real thing.

"Oh, you dang right I live, so you best drop your dumpling-eatin' behinds on down and tell me why we ain't bustin' out the barrels already, huh?"

"But... your greatness, General Li Shang is not a son of Qui Gong."

"**SILENCE!**" bellows Mushu, letting out a stream of fire from the statues mouth. He plays the part well. "I am the Golden Dragon of Unity, and **I** decide whom to unify. My all-seeing eye has peered into the very heart of China, and I've never seen two people more right for one another than this lovely couple right here: Mulan and Shang. Give it up for 'em, would ya please?"

His voice breaks slightly; I think he's going to cry. Mulan and Shang hold hands and hug, free now to do as they wish. Everyone starts cheering for the 'lovely couple', including us and the princesses, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, who must've snuck in at some point.

"Now I command you to proceed at once!"

"Yes, your greatness! As you command!" whimpers Lord Chin, still prostrate on the ground.

"Now, let's get down to business. Mulan do you love Shang? Of course you do! Shang do you love Mulan? Yes, very much. Moving on. By the power vested in me (by me) I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You got anything to say, Lord Double-Chin?"

"Yes! I mean no! I mean... Whatever you say."

Ah, Mushu, such little finesse. At least everyone's happy. I **love** a happy ending.

"And furthermore, I hereby decree that the princesses of the middle kingdom (wherever they may be) are released for their vow and may marry whomsoever they please (and whoever pleases them: that's very important). Oh, and happiness to Donald, Goofy and Sonic (wherever **those** three are)."

The four happy couples kiss. It's about time if you ask me. Everyone starts cheering.

"I thought he was gonna forget us for a moment there."

"A-hyuk, Mushu's a guardian, he never forgets anything!"

"We're still missing a Keyhole."

"Actually, I think I may know just where it is..."

So begins our long journey back to the middle kingdom. I won't go into it. It's boring and uneventful.

Anywho... When we get back the princesses and their now-fiancées head back to the palace, while the rest of us go to Mulan's place. It's nice: there's a blossom tree in the front yard. I can't help but notice that Mushu's looking upset, even though his guardian-ee just got married like he eventually wanted. Mulan comes up with an idea that Shang likes, and asks us to help him cart some big ol' chunks of block to the family temple. Mushu likes it: he accidentally reveals himself to Shang.

"So, this is the famous Mushu, huh?"

"Mulan, you told him? About me?!"

"I have no secrets from my husband. I told him **everything.**"

"Everything?" he whimpers, hiding behind Mulan's dress.

"**Everything,** Great Golden Dragon of Unity," Shang replies with a wink.

"I still don't get it: what does putting this rock here do?" asks me.

"It combines our temples and gives me my pedestal back!"

"Well, I'm glad that everything turned out OK. Now, about that Keyhole..."

"Oh, the Keyhole did you say?" asks Shang with a glint of mischief in his eye. "I know where that is. As protector of the Emperor, I **have** to know, in case it needs protecting."

"Tell us!" quacks Donald. "It's important!"

"Well... In light of all you've done for us, I **suppose** I should tell you."

"Sweet! Where is it? It isn't far is it? I **bet** its back in Qui Gong. Trust our luck."

"Not quite. It's right here."

He points at a Keyhole-shaped indentation in the wall. Oops. Guess I didn't notice. I summon the Kingdom Key, and the Keyhole shimmers into existence once it senses the presence of the weapon. I seal it with a flash of light.

"What does that mean?"

"It means this world won't be devoured by the Heartless."

"Well, that's good."

"Too right. Give us a call if you need anything."

"And enjoy your honeymoon!"

Everyone laughs. After all the heartache we've had, it seems like the only thing we **can** do.

Did I mention I love happy endings?


	10. The Pride Lands Part 1

The Pride Lands – Part 1

Yo, people! I'm so glad that more people are getting interested in my story. It warms my heart to know that y'all care. *sniff* I just **had** to do this world, as it's one of my favourites. Plus, this chapter is dedicated to you, Rubi! Also, I got a review from someone suggesting a world. Now, I won't say what that world is, but I'm going to do it after all! Rubi knows what I'm talking about, don't you? As for the rest of you, you'll just have to wait and see...

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

The next world doesn't get off to a good start.

First thing: we've all changed shape again. Goofy looks like a turtle. A turtle with a dog's head. Donald has a more socially acceptable form, being some sort of parrot. He can **fly** too. I like it better when I can fly as well! But I'm only a bright blue cheetah. **Nice.**

Second: the whole place is on fire.

Numerous wild animals dart around in fright, trying to avoid the flames licking at their hooves. They don't even notice the three strange beasts that have just popped out of nowhere. They're too busy trying to stay alive. The flames are **hot** and creep closer every second. It's funny how we always manage to appear right in the middle of danger.

There are also tons of Heartless running around. I don't recognise the different varieties very well yet, but most of them look like monkeys wearing masks, along with the common-or-gardens Shadows. All the same, they're a threat to the animals around here, so we're going to have to take them out, even if it means we get burnt.

We start running. Well, Donald flies. I never knew Goofy could move so fast as a turtle! I still have my usual speed of about 700 MPH, but I'd just leave everyone behind, and possibly make more fire with the friction I'd make, which are both stupid ideas. The flames seem to have formed a circle, feeding off the dry grass and shrubs. This place must just be hot all the time if all the shrubs are so dried up. As we run we hack away at the Heartless. Most of them flee at the sight of us three. I wonder why.

"We need to get higher! My fur is singing!"

"There! There's a rock!"

There is indeed. Donald has no problem: he just flies a bit higher. I use my claws and my speed to pull myself up and to safety. We both have to help Goofy get up, not being able to climb as well with a shell on his back. We all take a quick breather, stained with soot and ash. What a heck of a way to start a world off.

Most of the animals have fled the area, except for one. A lioness still pounces through the flames, trapped. She's too afraid to do anything **but** run, but that's going to get her killed, especially if the Heartless come back.

"Hey! You!" She turns her head upwards desperately, catching a sight of me on the rock. I'm probably hard to miss with this color. "Get up here quickly before you get hurt."

She takes a running leap at the rock, managing to jump high enough to sink her claws into the top. She almost gets up before her footing gives way. She dangles dangerously above the inferno. It takes all three of us to pull her up to safety, where she faints from exhaustion and smoke inhalation.

"Stay here and watch her!" orders Donald. "We'll go get Simba!"

Both he and Goofy disappear off somewhere. In any other circumstance, using that tone of voice on me would've meant a Keyblade being introduced to his skull, but now's not the time for that. I turn the lioness' face to the side with my muzzle so that she doesn't choke on her own tongue. I learned basic first aid **years **ago, but I never thought it would come in handy.

A figure steps out of the smoke. I take a defensive position in front of the lioness in case it's a Heartless. The shadow emerges from the smoke, revealing itself to be a sizeable lion. He towers over my small form, sneering at my probably pathetic state. He prods the lioness with his paw, seeing if she's still breathing. He does what looks like a motion to bite at her throat, but I won't let that happen.

I jump in front of him again, **daring** him to just **try** it. He roars at me, but I stand my ground. He's **nothing** compared to the Death Egg. He winces slightly at the look in my eye.

"I'm just trying to help her."

"Oh yeah? How can I trust you?"

"How can I trust **you,**" he retorts. His voice is much more mature than his body. "We need to get her to some water, so she can drink before she gets dehydrated."

We glower at each other some more. I can feel the flames starting to lick up the sides of the rock hungrily.

"...Fine," I growl.

I step aside, and the lion tries to pull the lioness onto his back. I'm reluctant to help him, but now isn't the time to be stubborn. I remind him of this fact when he tries to stop me from helping him get her on his back. His eyes glow with the fierce light of the fire. Mine probably do too. Cat's eyes glow like that sometimes, even on **my** world. I always thought it was creepy. I **still** think it's creepy.

The smoke becomes suffocating. We both start to choke on it. I can hear him coughing next to me, even though I can barely see him anymore through the blanket of smoke. It's much deeper than my little squeaks. I hate being so young sometimes. We both pick up the pace, sensing the growing danger behind us.

We don't notice the cliff, though.

One moment we're running; the next we're falling down a sharp drop into a river. The smoke must've hidden it from us. The water is deep, and I struggle to stay upright. My head keeps sinking beneath the water. I can swim even **less** in this form! I battle with the liquid until I reach solid ground. The lion is struggling with the lioness, who's **still** unconscious, so I help him get her to dry land. We both look like drowned rats. I can't help but laugh before collapsing myself.

The lioness finally wakes up once she's safe. She coughs up a ton of water out of her lungs, the red glow from the fire making it look like blood. It's **not** blood, though, thank God. My sensitive nose would know if it was. She opens her eyes wearily, noticing only the lion at first. Obviously: I'm lying behind her, getting my **own** breath back. Stupid water, always getting in the way...

"Where am I?" she asks weakly, as if not really wanting to know.

"You're safe in the Pride Lands," answers the lion with a certain arrogance to his tone that reminds me of Shadow.

"Pride Lands? No! Why'd you bring me here; who'd you think you are?!"

She jumps to her feet, advancing on the poor lion. I jump between them, managing to separate the two with more of my color than my size. I'm like one of those poisonous frogs: my color is a warning.

"We would be the guys who **saved** you, you ingrate," says I.

"Look, I had everything under control," she snaps. It must be hormonal.

"Not from where I'm standing."

"Then move downwind."

Ooh. Touchy. The lioness turns away in a huff. The lion growls almost softly and jumps over me to land in front of her, barring her escape. They tackle like this for a few moments: the lioness moving and the lion blocking her. I sit down and lick my paws. They're caked in soot, and it's **not** pleasant.

"What are you **doing?**" asks the lion. I watch in mild interest.

"Kovu?" asks the lioness. Now, I happen to speak Swahili anyway, and I know 'Kovu' means 'scar'. I wonder why she called him that. He doesn't have a scar in sight! Of course, it could be covered by fur. Both lions smile at each other. I must be missing an inside joke here.

Pity another lion has to come and ruin the romantic mood.

He charges over like a rampaging buffalo, to use a metaphor that fits with the world we're in, and roars at the other lion. He backs off in fear. My colour draws his attention, **and** the fact that I'm not showing him all the respect he clearly wants. He must be king. He growls at me. I growl back. It doesn't come out as quite as weak as I expected, which is good.

The lion's temper must get control of him, because he takes a swipe at me. I dodge it with ease: his size makes him slow. He takes a pounce at me, and I dodge. Of course, he'd have to move at the speed of sound to catch **me. **We circle around like this for a while. I notice another lioness – probably the mate of this obnoxious one – come trotting over and rub her muzzle against the lioness we rescued. Mother and daughter no doubt.

I get distracted long enough for the lion to catch up and whack me across the face with his paw.

I get sent flying. It **hurts, **especially seeing as he had his claws out. I can smell blood, and it makes me angrier. Must be a cheetah thing. The lion snorts through his nose, mutters something about 'outsiders' and turns back to the cowering lion.

He's not turning his back on me!

"Hey! Fat head!" I shout.

"**What **did you call me?" he growls menacingly, turning his attention back to me.

"Fancy beating up the one who saved this chick! Well, take this you big jerk!"

I summon the Kingdom Key D and whack him **hard** over the head.

Seeing as I don't have opposable thumbs anymore, I have to hold the Keyblade in my mouth, which means only one at a time. Still, I give him a hefty beating. Serves him right for being a **big bully!** I'm about to unleash more punishment on him, but Donald and Goofy suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"Knock it off, Sonic! Simba didn't do anything!"

"He tried to kill me! That counts as enough!"

"He has a point, Donald..."

"Well, now we see what Merlin said about 'no control'."

The respite in the fighting gives 'Simba' enough time to get to his feet. He still looks angry, but it's now mixed with confusion at the sight of the Keyblade. He must be expecting Sora to come with it.

"You saved her?"

"Well, this dude here did most of the work," I say with a bit more restraint than Simba managed, dismissing the Kingdom Key D so I don't drool all over the handle. "I don't even know his name."

"It's Kovu! Kovu saved me, Daddy!" says the lioness from the sidelines.

"**Why?**" growls Simba, turning his attention from me to said lion.

"I... humbly ask... to join your pride," 'Kovu' requests, as humbly as he said he would be.

"**No,**" says Simba without even thinking about it. "You were banished with the other outsiders."

"I have **left** the outsiders. I'm a rogue. Judge me now for who I am, or am I to be blamed for a crime I didn't commit?"

Simba doesn't take kindly to this. He paces back and forth across the scorched ground, unsure of what to do. Donald, Goofy and I sit to one side. I really have no idea what's going on.

"Simba, you owe him Kiara's life."

"Hmm... yes, Sire. Clearly we are in his debt," says a Hornbill in an obnoxiously nasally voice. "And royal protocol demands that all debts be repaid. Though, in **this** case, you might want to make an exception."

He sneers at Kovu, and then at **me** for a moment, which is stupid because I'm not the one asking to join the tribe. I just bare my teeth at him, and he flaps off in a hurry. I'm not really making a very good first impression, I suppose.

"My Father's law will prevail," Simba say eventually. "For now I reserve judgement. We'll see who you really are."

He stalks off, followed by Kiara, her Mom and the obnoxious parrot. We bring up the rear. Kovu sidles over, much to the disgust of Donald. He obviously doesn't like the look of him.

"Nice moves there," he whispers, pointing his head in the direction of Simba's rear end. We both laugh quietly at this view.

"You weren't too bad yourself, carrying Kiara all on your own."

"Heh. Thanks."

"How do you know her? I mean, she knew your name without asking, right?"

"Well, this isn't the first time I saved her butt," this gets an irritated glance of said lioness. "We ran into each other when we were kids. I saved her from... **crocodiles,**" he whispers even quieter. He mustn't want to be heard.

"Wow! I'm impressed!"

"What about you? What kinda cheetah is blue?"

"Oh, I'm from... **another world,**" I whisper also really quietly, so Donald and Goofy can't hear. 'It's meddling' they'd say. I call it story-swapping.

"Like I'd believe that."

"It's true! Didn't you see how fast I could move? And the fact that I clobbered a fully grown lion with a key I magicked up outta nowhere?"

"Well, I guess if you put it like that... What's a guy like you doing in a place like this? The company isn't exactly... **invigorating.**"

"Ever heard of the Heartless?"

"Err... No."

"They're little black monsters. Unless they're big and not black, I suppose. If you see any, we'll take care of it. There were some around during the fire, but they ran away, so they could still be around here somewhere. I've got this Keyblade, which I whacked Simba over the head with, which kills them. It's supposed to have great power, but I really haven't got a clue. Oh, I'm Sonic, by the way."

"**Really,**" he says with a strange glint in his eye. I don't have the chance to question this look, because the solemn party reaches a big rock pointing to the sky. There are more lionesses here. This must be their crib. Simba mutters something to them which sets them all on edge.

"Looks like you're making quite a scene."

"I can't be the only cause of **that,**" he answers, raising an eyebrow at me. I smirk and follow Simba into a cave at the back of the pointy rock. The rest of lions curl up in a family group and start snoring **loudly. **Simba gives Kovu the evil eye and won't let him in with the others. He curls up outside of the cave and tries to get to sleep, only get cornered by Kiara. He doesn't look too bothered about it, though.

"What do we do? Are we allowed to sleep with them?" I ask.

"Gawrsh, I don't see why not. We **are** Simba's friends."

"**We're** Simba's friends. Ol' bluey just ruined his chances, I think."

"Gee, thanks. Well, you two head inside and get some rest. I'm more partial to sleeping outside anyway."

"Are you sure? You really don't have to."

"I'm sure. Besides, I don't think I'd get a very nice welcome from his highness in there. Just get some rest."

I manage to convince them that this is the best thing to do, and they head inside. I bet those lions snore like trains anyway. Kiara heads inside too, a smug grin on her face. I wonder what she said to Kovu. Whatever. I'm too tired to care. I find a nice **rock** to curl up on and try to go to sleep.

Sometimes I hate being a hedgehog. We're supposed to be nocturnal.

Because of this I don't get much sleep, and I'm hungry. I would **kill** for a chilli dog right about now, but somehow I don't think there's going to be any in the savannah, and I'm **not** eating any raw meat. I'll just have to make do with fruit or something. I wonder if my cheetah stomach can take it. Kovu comes over, having seemingly been out for a walk the past few hours.

"Sonic, remember how you mentioned the Heartless last night?"

"... Yeah?"

"Well, I was out walking to get a feel of the place, and I think I saw some at the waterhole."

"Say no more! We'll take care of it! Oh, and good luck with winning his royal highness over."

"Tch..." he mutters under his breath. He doesn't seem to be in a good mood. Mind you, neither would I if I'd been awake as early as he probably has been. He acts even more like Shadow than I first thought. He stalks off to be moody somewhere else. I need Donald and Goofy.

I poke my head into the cave. They're still asleep. Trust them to be sleeping at a time like this! Hearts could be in danger! I sneak in, tiptoe past the lions – which isn't easy when you've got paws – and nudge them both awake.

"... Huh? Wuh?"

"Heartless! Keep your voices down."

"Oh, right."

We sneak out, somehow managing to avoid waking all the lions up. Simba and Kiara aren't there. I get a suspicious feeling in my gut. I'll put it down to indigestion for now.

"So, where are they?"

"Who?"

"The Heartless!"

"Oh, yeah! Kovu said they were at the watering hole."

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go get them!"

We charge off in the direction of the waterhole, eager for battle. I summon the Kingdom Key, tightening my grip on it in case I should drop it. I'll probably leave teeth marks. Sora won't be impressed. We crash through the foliage and jump out to find...

Absolutely nothing.

Not even any animals! The whole place is deserted. The effects of last night's fire must've wreaked havoc. We all sag slightly with disappointment, before bending down to get a drink. The water is soothing to my parched throat.

"So... Nice weather we're having."

"**Sonic...**"

"What? Don't look at me like that! It wasn't **me** who saw the Heartless here!"

"Well, who did?"

"Kovu."

"Figures. I don't trust that guy one bit," spits Donald.

"Aw, c'mon you guys! What've you got against him?"

"Simba doesn't like him. That's good enough for me!"

"Gawrsh, what me and Donald are trying to say is that he's a bit... **suspicious.**"

I shake my head in exasperation.

"Well, I think he's a good guy. Just misunderstood. He saved Kiara, right?"

It's Donald and Goofy's turn to shake their heads.

"One act of heroics doesn't guarantee that's he's on our side."

"Yeah! He could be **evil.**"

"Well, I'll just have to prove to you that he's alright! Where is he now, I wonder...?"

A roar shatters the tranquillity of the place. A flock of birds dash into the sky, clawing at the clouds to pull them away faster.

"Looks like we found our man."

We speed off in the direction of the roar, which is followed by another, deeper, **louder** roar a few seconds later. God knows what he's doing. More birds leap into the sky, and cheering echoes from over the hill. At least he's not getting into too much trouble.

Yet.

We reach the hill, which is less of a hill than the top of a small gorge. Kovu, Kiara, and a meerkat riding on the back of a warthog have just angered a bunch of rhinos. The lions and otherwise run away screaming, the angry rhinos charging after them. Those horns of theirs look pretty sharp.

"We have to help them."

"Yeah, but how? Those rhinos will trample us!"

"... I've got a plan! Come on!"

We start running along the top of the gorge, keeping an eye on the chase below. The rhinos are gaining.

"You two knock some boulders down off the top of the gorge to slow these guys down! I'm gonna help the others get away!"

Before they can object I leap down the side and onto the back of one of the rhinos.

I leap from rhino to rhino, getting closer to the speeding gang up front. When I'm close enough, I leap down and use my superior speed to push my way up front.

"Need a little help?"

"What?" pants Kiara. I forgot she barely knows who I am.

"We need to form a line with me at the front!"

"No way! You're just gonna eat us all!" says the paranoid meerkat, the only one of us not doing any running.

"I can't eat you if I'm at the front! Now shut up and just do it!"

With no other choice, the animals pull themselves into formation. Several very large boulders topple down from the top of the gorge, battering the rhinos. Several collapse, a few get stuck, and a few bash their way through it. I send Donald and Goofy a wink.

Then I start speeding up.

In theory, the others should be able to travel in my slipstream. However, because they're not used to running at such high speeds, it's likely to tear them to pieces. Instead, I reach within myself and activate the Chaos Energy to carry them for me. While I'm wearing even less clothes than normal, the Chaos Emerald is still there, ready to be used. Thank God.

I don't go anywhere near the sound barrier. I don't particularly trust myself not to fall over my own feet... paws. I just accelerate to more or less the same speed that I took Donald and Goofy at when we we're heading to Belle's village. It's enough to leave the stupid rhinos in our **dust! **Simba is gonna kill me for doing this to his daughter. Ah, well. Can't win them all.

Strangely enough, no one collapses when I finally come to a stop. Instead they all roll around laughing in the grass. Yet **another** waterhole, but where are all the animals? The meerkat says something about Kovu and I being 'all right'. **I'm** pleased, but Kovu looks more worried than anything. Especially seeing as Kiara accidentally collapsed on top of him. We just sit and watch while they sort themselves out.

"What was **that?!**" yells the swine.

"Oh, that's nothing. I can run faster than that. I'm Sonic."

"Timon and Pumbaa. Nice to meet ya," says the meerkat, giving my paw a shake. Kiara and Kovu are still faffing on.

"Hey! You coming or what?!" yells Timon in a not so subtle manner. Kiara and Kovu have their eyes locked. Even the arrival of both Donald **and** Goofy doesn't distract them. Lovesickness. Bleugh.

"Hey, I know you two!" says Pumbaa, as if that was a major discovery. "How're you doing?"

"We're fine. Not like **you** after Sonic's harebrained scheme," answers Donald with a bit of malice.

"Well, we're all still alive, right?"

"So, where's Sora?"

"We have no idea. Sonic's coming with us for now as the new Keyblade master," says Goofy with a hint of pride.

"Sounds like one crazy adventure," says Timon with a hint of awe.

"Yep," says I with a hint of... nothing, really.

"So... Wanna come bug catching with us? It's good for winding down the nerves!"

"Well, we've got nothing better to do. I guess we'll give it a try."

How Knuckles would laugh if he saw me now.


	11. The Pride Lands Part 2

The Pride Lands – Part 2

I'm sorry this took so long to update. I've been stressing over geography coursework. If any of you are considering doing geography for GCSE, **be prepared.** See, that was even a Lion King reference! That's all I have to say.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

When night falls I find myself sitting on a grassy hill top with Simba, watching Kovu and Kiara snuggle up together. They've sure come a long way from being caught in that fire. Simba doesn't look happy or comfortable.

"I feel so lost. Kovu is one of **them.** How can I accept him?"

"Simba, if there's **anything** I've learnt from my travels, it's that allies can come from the most unlikely places, and the ones who hate you the most can turn out to be your greatest assets."

"You sound like you've had a lot of experience."

"Trust me, I have. One of my friends, called Knuckles, kept trying to kill me when I first met him. We're good friends now. We just had to learn to trust each other. You'd get on with him: you're both stubborn mules."

"Kovu hasn't given me any reason to trust him."

"And **you** haven't given him any reason to trust **you.** Trust is a two way street, y'know?"

"Hmph."

"So, what were you doing before I got here?"

"Seeking guidance from the kings of the past," he mumbles, expecting me to laugh at him.

"I've heard stranger things before. Did they help?"

He turns to the sky, melancholy emotions streaked across his face.

"Silent as stars. My father-"

"I don't know you very well, so I suppose I'm not one to judge, but it sounds like you're trying to walk down the path of your father. You need to find your **own** path and be the king you're meant to be, instead of the king your father was."

"Sora told me exactly the same thing."

"Maybe you should listen. Try to get to know Kovu, and perhaps you'll see what he's really like. Besides, your daughter approves, so why shouldn't you?"

I leave Simba to mull my words of wisdom over. It doesn't happen very often, so he should be grateful! He doesn't get to see Kovu trying to plod off on his own, only to be stopped by a crazy baboon. I smirk to myself, glad that my camouflage keeps me hidden.

"So, how'd it go?" asks Donald, popping out from behind a leaf.

"Do you two always follow me around?"

"We're supposed to stick with you, so yeah, I guess!" exclaims Goofy popping up from behind another leaf. Their form of camouflage isn't as cool as mine.

"Did you and Simba make amends?"

"I think so. He's worried about Kiara and Kovu," I explain as we start to make our way back to Pride Rock.

"I don't blame him. Kovu's just got something about him that I don't like!"

"Donald..."

"A-hyuk, you're being mighty stubborn! She's happy, and that's good enough for me."

"Well..."

"Lighten up. Kovu's a great guy. Simba just doesn't see that yet."

When we get back to Pride Rock all the lionesses and Simba are asleep, so I don't think I'll be sleeping outside tonight. Donald, Goofy and I muscle our way into a spot and curl up for the night. Except Donald, who can just fly up to a perch and sleep there. I find if I wrap my tail around my nose it keeps it warm. Now, if only those two lions out there could stop singing about 'upendi' I could get some sleep.

The next morning the same two lions wake me up! I growl quietly and stretch my legs. They've gotten stiff in the night. The morning air is crisp with dew and something else a little more tangible, like dread. Someone must be worried. I crack my eyes open to see Kiara, Kovu and Simba talking at the cave mouth. Kovu looks like he's despairing. Now I know where the dread is coming from. Simba and Kovu leave, while Kiara stands there looking like a lost puppy.

"What's going on Kiara?" I ask once I'm sure they're out of earshot. Wouldn't want to spoil the moment.

"Daddy wants to talk to Kovu. I think he's finally getting to know him better!"

"I sure hope so... You want me to follow them, right?"

"How did you guess?!"

"I have my ways. Hey, you two, get up!"

Donald and Goofy stumble around in the dark of the cave, emerging with bags under their eyes. They blink a few times before comprehending that I'm here.

"What's... up?"

"Kiara wants us to follow Simba and Kovu."

"Just... give me a second," yawns Donald. Kiara and I shake our heads in exasperation. I give them a few moments to wake up before trotting out of the cave, hot on the tail of the two lions. It's **amazing** how much they smell now with my more sensitive nose. It doesn't take us long to track them down, talking to each other in low voices.

"Scar couldn't let go of his hate and in the end it destroyed him."

"I've never heard the story of Scar that way. He truly **was** a killer."

"Who on Earth is Scar?" I whisper, sort of breaking the mood.

"Scar was a mean old lion that killed Simba's father and took over the Pride Lands. He turned into a Heartless but Sora and Simba defeated him."

"Doesn't sound like the nicest guy."

"Fire is a killer," says Simba. "Sometimes what's left behind can grow better than a generation before. If given the chance."

Low thunderous laughing sweeps across the plains, startling Simba and Kovu. A mixture of lions and Heartless emerge out of the fog, their teeth and claws bared, poised to strike. It's a good thing we're here after all. We stay hidden, though. We don't want to spark an unnecessary fight.

"Why, Simba!" says one of the older looking lionesses. "What are you doing out here and so... **alone?**"

The lions start laughing to themselves. The Heartless just remains as expressionless as ever.

"Well done, Kovu. Just like we always planned."

Simba gives Kovu a shocked look. If he could see us **we'd** all be doing the same.

"No! I didn't have anything to do with this!" yells Kovu, grasping at straws. Simba doesn't look convinced. The lioness gives the order to attack, and the lions and Heartless leap forward, their momentum carrying them at astonishing speeds. Kovu tries to stop them, but he's knocked out. Simba ends up being thrown off the side of a cliff, the other lions scraping their way down to kill him.

Not on my watch, they're not.

We leap into action, obliterating the Heartless first. Simba looks surprised and happy to see us. We clobber a few lions on the head on the way down, skidding to a halt next to Simba, who is struggling to stay upright. We make a hasty retreat before the lions can claw our faces off.

We run for a few moments before we're forced to stop. The debris from the fire has built up to create a huge barricade halting our escape. Why does this always happen?! The lions are gaining on us, so we climb hastily up the logs. The lions don't follow, as Goofy is knocking loose debris down to their level.

Kovu appears at the top of the barricade. The lioness calls out to him to kill Simba, but he doesn't have that sort of look in his eyes. Still, instead of helping pull us to safety he runs off like a coward and is of no help whatsoever, little so-and-so.

One of the crazier-looking lions starts to climb up the debris towards us. Simba struggles to pull himself higher, so Donald and Goofy help him, leaving me with the psycho.

"This is my moment of glory! Don't interfere or I'll cut you down too!"

"Not too likely."

He roars angrily, having reached his emotional peak, and swipes at me. I'm too busy trying not to fall to dodge it, and his claws scrape across the skin on my muzzle. I can taste and smell blood in my mouth. Growling myself, I momentarily forget about the Keyblades and succumb to my primal instincts, clawing at him myself. He loses his balance and falls, being buried beneath the logs. I don't know if he's dead or not, and I don't want to find out. I force myself up the barrier and run for my life.

If he **is** dead, they're going to be **so** angry!

I catch up with Simba and the others very quickly, seeing as I move about twenty times faster than them at my quickest. Simba's limping badly, and everyone looks exhausted. I'd stop to heal him with my new spell, but I don't know how badly it'll affect me. I don't want to get stranded out here when they can barely carry themselves, let alone me.

"Daddy!" screams Kiara charging down a hill to meet us. "What happened?"

"Talk to us, guys," says Timon and Pumbaa, having also just arrived on the scene.

"Kovu. Ambush..."

Simba faints, the strain of the day becoming too much on him.

"We can't carry him back. He's too heavy," says Pumbaa with reluctance.

"Can you carry me?" I ask.

"Why would we need to carry **you?**"

"Just in case."

I reach down into myself and draw on the Chaos Energy within me. It's harder seeing as I'm not wearing my Chaos-infused clothes anymore. I will it to heal Simba and wake him up, and let it go. His wounds stitch themselves together, and his skin regains colour. His eyes flutter open gently, coming around. That happened much faster than I thought it would. He sways to his feet, pawing the ground tenderly. He still looks exhausted. I pour more energy into him, feeding his strained muscles until they're almost back to full health.

I collapse as soon as I'm done.

...

"... Daddy... Can't be true..."

"It's Kovu..."

"... Traitor..."

I blink sleepily. I must've poured too much energy into that spell. I should've listened to Merlin when he said I need more control. My whole body hurts, and I don't have the Chaos Energy left to make it better. I need more. More Chaos Emeralds. I wearily raise my head, feeling a wing and a leg help it up.

"Glad to see you're awake," says Donald.

"What happened?"

"You passed out after overdoing your spell. Pumbaa carried you back here on his back."

"Really? I'll have to thank him later, when I can stand up."

The animals have all gathered at Pride Rock. They all look disgusted at a lone figure skulking through the crowd. It's Kovu, now with a scar on his face. The name Kovu, meaning 'scar', never suited him better than until now. He stands modestly at the base of Pride Rock, looking up at Simba and Kiara.

"Why have you come back?" Simba demands, the epitome of rage.

"Simba, I had **nothing** to do with it," Kovu pleads. I almost believe him.

"You don't belong here!"

"Please, I ask your forgiveness."

"Daddy, **please.** Listen to him..."

"**Silence!**" he roars, his betrayal even winning out over the voice of his own daughter. "When you first came here you asked for judgement, and I pass it now! **Exile!**"

And Kovu gets exiled for the second time in his life.

All the animals start pounding their feet on the ground, sending up choking dust into the air. Kiara despairs, and has to be restrained by the other lionesses. The animals start pecking Kovu and throwing stuff at him until he flees in shame. It's an awful sight: one which I never have to see again. I wouldn't even wish it on **Eggman.**

Kiara and Simba start arguing. I turn my head away, folding my ears in. I don't want to hear.

"Nothing like this has ever happen to us before," whispers Goofy, his usually cheery demeanour gone. "We always managed to make everything right."

"It seems like we've done it all wrong."

"You're forgetting Ant Island, you two," I say, trying to reassure them. "Things looked like they we're going down the toilet, but they turned out OK."

"It didn't **turn out OK!**" spits Donald. "We thought you'd **died!**"

"I've already died before. I'm not going down that road anytime soon. I just fear for Kovu."

"Well, I don't! Good riddance, I say!"

"I don't believe for one second that he meant any harm. I just hope everyone else will see that too, before it's too late."

Kiara charges past and into the cave, weeping sorrowfully. I think it's more than just Kovu now. Whatever Simba said, he's not going about this the right way, but he's in too foul a mood for him to understand. Everyone disperses, tension hanging in the air.

By nightfall it becomes apparent that Kiara's ran away.

The cave is full of pacing lions and a meerkat and warthog. The rain falls heavily outside, further darkening everyone's moods. The stupid hornbill flies in and proclaims that the outsiders have come to eat our brains. Or something like that.

"Simba, we'll fight them off," I offer heroically.

"... No. Find Kiara. We'll assemble the lionesses. Move!"

Adhering to his wishes, we charge out into the pouring rain. She could be **anywhere. **Donald takes to the skies to give us a better chance at finding her, while Goofy and I search the ground. I'm gonna give this princess **such** a whooping when I find her!

We find them just in time too.

I can hear the sounds of war echoing across the savannah from **here!** Kiara and Kovu are already on their way back.

"What's going on, Sonic?"

"The prides are at war! You have to come back!"

They go without a moment's hesitation.

"What's the plan?"

"Don't have one! We're making it up as we go along!"

We charge into the middle of the battle. Our mere presence scares some of them off. We've obviously made a lasting impression on them. Most of them are all converging on Simba, trying to tear his throat out. A few well aimed Thunders courtesy of Donald take care of them. The head lioness whips her head around to see who **dares** try and stop her.

"**You** again," she growls. "**You** killed my son."

"If he hadn't tried to be clever and come after me, he'd still be alive. It was **his** doing."

This angers her more. I'm not very good at calming people down.

"So, **you're** Sora? We were warned about you by an outsider even to **us** who said he knew Scar. We were told you'd get in our way, and he was right!"

"What was his name?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

She takes a lunge at me, completely forgetting about Simba for the time being. I move out of her way in plenty of time. The other lions stop fighting each other and come to watch the showdown between her and me. Even Donald and Goofy back off. I don't blame them: I'm sure I can see her foaming at the mouth.

We circle around each other, waiting for the other to attack. I'm outweighed in everything but speed and Chaos Energy here, which I'm already low on, so I'll have to rely on a bit of both if I'm going to manage. She raises her hand to strike me down...

But is stopped.

Kiara and Kovu leap into the middle of the fight, each holding us off.

"Kovu, **move,**" orders the lioness. Zira, I think her name was. 'Hate'. It suits her.

"Stand aside," also orders Simba from behind me.

"Daddy, this has to stop."

"You're even weaker than I thought," bites Zira. "Get out of the way!"

"You'll never hurt Kiara, or Simba, or Sonic. Not while I'm here," retaliates Kovu. It touches me how he wants to protect me too.

"Stay out of this!" growls Simba.

"A wise king once told me 'we are one'. I didn't understand back then, but now I do. Them? **Us?** Look at them! They **are** us! What differences do you see?"

She makes a good point. Suddenly the fighting spirit isn't so strong anymore. Simba and Kiara hug, while I rest my sore butt for a moment. Zira tries to get Vitani to attack, but she refuses. She doesn't want to fight anymore, and I don't think anyone else does either. Only Zira.

"If **you** will not fight, then you will die as well."

This ultimatum doesn't change anything. Her entire pride leaves her for Simba.

"Enough, Zira. Let us put the past behind us," reasons Simba.

"I shall never let it go. This is for you, Scar!"

She leaps at Simba aiming to take his head off. I meet her leap before she can get anywhere near him, carrying us both off the edge of Pride Rock. The rocks scrape the skin off my back on the way down. I can hear Simba leaping down the bank to catch us. We both dangle above a huge chasm at least one hundred feet tall. And if that wasn't enough, there's a river at the bottom. It's either be dashed to pieces or drown. What a day.

I look up to see Simba clawing his way down, yelling something about a river. I look to my right, and instantly wish I hadn't. There's a huge tidal wave heading this way. How do these things keep happening to me?! I feel a well aimed paw slash quickly across my foot, shedding fresh rubies of blood. Zira's still trying to kill me after all this.

"You killed my son! I'll drag you to hell with me!"

She climbs higher up the ledge, digging her claws into the rock. She has a frenzied look in her eyes that chills me to the bone. I can't pull myself up: I'm still too weak after passing out. Simba gets closer and closer each second, but so does Zira. She takes a swipe at me, clawing my thigh open and holding on for dear life.

She also loses her grip.

We're both dragged down into the chasm, the tidal wave smacking into us full force. I battle with the raging waters, and manage to get my head above water. Simba get's further and further away as I'm carried by the river. I can see him running to keep up, but to no avail.

Zira lurches out of the water and digs her claws into my head. My scream is swallowed as I go under again, choking with the water. I summon the Kingdom key and twist my body, cutting my head but knocking Zira off. She screams in rage before falling off me and into the water.

I take the opportunity to dig the Keyblade into the rock, stopping my travels in their tracks. Simba is getting closer now that I'm not going anywhere, but he's still so far away, and my grip on the Kingdom Key is slipping. Zira shoots out of the water, gasping for breath, all thought to kill me forgotten in the fear for her life. She claws at the side of the chasm, about ten feet in front of me, trying to get a grip to pull herself back up.

Now Donald and Goofy have joined the race. Donald flies over head, shooting magic at Zira to get her away from me, while Goofy has joined Simba in descending down the cavern. Zira's grip scratches away and she knocks into me, sending us both flying. We dip below the surface again, and this time don't come up. We've been caught in a riptide, dragging us mercilessly through the water.

I have to Chaos Control out of here.

Only, the Chaos Energy has dwindled ever since I healed Simba. Still, I don't really have a choice. I pull on any Chaos Energy I can find, feeling the pale warmth fill me up. It's so weak: I don't know if I can do it. I will for there to be some Chaos Energy **somewhere** that I can use, and activate Chaos Control.

The waters bubble and churn with more energy than is natural, and I feel like I'm being sucked through a plug hole. The Chaos Energy isn't strong enough, and it's sucking me dry. I can already feel the darkness swooping in to steal my heart at its weakest. There's a slight surge of Chaos Energy from somewhere, and I grab on and pull with all the strength I've got left. I do **not** want to become the thing I've been fighting against!

We lurch to one side like a new pipe's been opened. I can feel Donald's magic pulling on my insides as we travel faster and faster. We must be going pretty far away. Oops. Looks like Zira's come along for the ride as well. I don't know how she'll take Chaos Control if she's never done it before.

I guess now's a good chance to find out.

We break through an invisible barrier and crash to a stop. I hear the sound of a waterfall before descending back into darkness.


	12. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hello, everyone!

Alright, I'll get down to business straight away. I got this review from a guy called **Frankcarlo Mills,** which really bugged me, so I thought I'd clear some things up. If you're reading this, then I'll prove you wrong that it doesn't make sense.

If any of you have played Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, you really should have to get anything that I'm saying; you'll know that you can't beat Xehanort's Heartless **or** his Nobody straight away. You have to go around the block first and save all the worlds several times on the way.

Well, this is the same thing.

First off, if Sonic chose to give the Kingdom Key back to Sora, he'd have to find him first. As per usual, he's gone missing. That time wasted spent trying to look for his sorry butt could be spent saving the worlds. Besides, there's no guarantee that the Kingdom Key will go **back** to him. **Technically,** its Sonic's now.

Secondly, Sonic's a hero, so he's so totally gonna let everyone die while he sits on his butt all day. **No way.** He has to save everyone on the way!

Thirdly, the story would be boring without the extra chapters. 'Nuff said.

He also made a stab at my disclaimer, which I don't really understand. As hard as it may be to accept, I simply and honestly do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sonic the Hedgehog! 'Savvy' is a word meaning 'well informed', which you are after I tell you that I don't own them, sadly enough. So there you go.

IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS FOR THE STORY LOOK AWAY NOW!

Now, for being such good readers, I'll give you a little hint as to what **could** be going on in later chapters. I will tell you that **Organization XIII** isn't quite as dead as you think; the **Princesses of Heart** will be making appearances – including Kairi, I'm sorry to say. I really hate her! I also haven't forgotten about the woman who made the prediction concerning Sonic, or the book that Yen Sid gave him. I just haven't written about them yet.

I'm in the middle of writing a side story to Touch of Blue, called (imaginatively enough) Touch of Grey. It's like the 358/2 Days version of Kingdom Hearts in that it'll be from the main antagonist's point of view. Now, if you were on a recon Mission like in 358/2 Days, you could say that the main bad guys are possibly Nobodies, and are possibly like Organization XIII, and I would say that you're right!

Now, I hope you've all played 358/2 Days because if not, not only have you been deprived, there'll be a few spoilers for it in here, especially about a certain female character which I **also** hate as much as Kairi! Well, not quite as much, but I still don't like her much...

I also wanted to have some Birth by Sleep stuff in here, but it won't even be released in Japan until January 2010! **No!** The horror! So, I might include a little bit, but nothing big. And **nothing** about the Unversed, so don't ask.

Also – a little treat to you loyal readers, especially as I haven't updated in **months, **and even then it was only an author's note – the worlds I'm going to be using are Traverse Town, Twilight Town, Yen Sid's Tower, Bug City, Beast's Castle, The Home of Dragons, The Pride Lands, Paradise Falls, Monstropolis, Atlantica, Neverland, The New World, Disney Castle, The World That Never Was and Kingdom Hearts itself, though maybe there will be more.

And a prize can go to whoever guesses what worlds **both** Paradise Falls and The New World are going to be. Just make it something story related!

Stay tuned!

Bradhadair12edgehog!Hed


	13. Paradise Falls Part 1

Paradise Falls – Part 1

Hiya! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages. I'm glad that more people are favouriting my stories and I'm sorry I haven't delivered in a while. There's been a lot of personal things going that meant I haven't had the chance to write any. Also, now that I've posted this world up, you can't guess what it is anymore for the prize! Therefore, I will reward anyone who still tries to guess what 'The New World' is.

Now, some of you might not have seen this film, but I've been constantly harassed by several people into making it part of the story, so here it is. If you haven't seen this film, then it contains **mega spoilers! **While reading the chapter it might help to play "Up with Titles" while running around Paradise Falls, and "Memories Can Weigh you Down" while fighting the Heartless/dogs/anyone really.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

I groan and open my eyes slowly.

My whole body aches; my wounds burn like fire. I can't think through the pain: I draw on the Chaos Energy that's been collecting in the Chaos Emerald while I was asleep. My wounds heal, I presume, and the aches and pains fade away. I groan and roll my head over.

Zira's dead.

The shock is enough to get me up on my paws. She's looks like she's sleeping, but her chest isn't moving. My stomach lurches, and I look away before I actually be sick. It's such a pity, but I don't really want to think about it. I focus on the environment instead.

I must be pretty far from the Pride Lands. I seem to be in a rainforest, but not like any rainforest I've ever seen before. All the flowers and trees are bright colours and unbelievable sizes. Half of them look dangerous. I tuck my tail in extra tight to make sure it's not bitten off.

A cacophony of sounds erupts from the shrubs behind me. I jump in fright, before charging off after them to see what's going on. It could be **Heartless** for all I know! I try to summon the Kingdom Key, but nothing happens! I **did** drop it before I Chaos Controlled away. It must back in the river. I'm gonna have a whole lot of trouble getting it back if I have to physically search the whole river for it. I just hope there's a trick behind it. If only Sora was here to tell me!

I run across a large, multicoloured bird being harassed by a pack of dogs. I back off first to make sure they're not Heartless. You can never be too sure. When I'm confident they're** just** dogs I burst in there. I give out the most intimidating roar I can manage, which is nothing compared to Simba, but it's enough. The dogs run off in a frenzied panic.

The bird gives me a funny look, its head turning almost upside down. I give it the same funny look, only my head won't turn that far. It's very pretty: lots of bright colours. I suppose that could be what it's thinking about me. Donald and Goofy certainly never mentioned anything like this.

Speaking of which, where are they?

Surely they should be looking for me, and knowing those two, they would walk around this place yelling my name at the tops of their voices. It's not like I'd miss them or anything. So far; nothing. Not even a whisper. Thanks for abandoning me, you guys, wherever you are.

The bird seems to smell the air and goes charging off over my head and into the bushes. So much for a thank you. Everyone else has been able to speak in the worlds I've been to, so why can't this one? I follow it, intrigued. It's standing behind a cover of bushes, occasionally poking its beak out to snap at something and then eat it. Smells like chocolate. A sensitive nose comes in handy sometimes.

It eventually lifts its head up and towers over the bushes, staring down at whatever's on the other side. It reaches down and takes a piece of chocolate out of the creatures hand and gobbles it up. I sneak forward and poke my head out between the leaves.

It's a human boy, surprisingly enough. I was expecting a lion, or some kind of African animal. He's a bit on the porky side, wearing a Cub Scout uniform or something. He's staring in disbelief at the bird and I, but not in fear. He snaps off a bit of chocolate and presents it to me to see if I'll take it. I do. Dairy Milk. Classic.

"What kind of animals are you? I never saw your pictures in the Wilderness Explorer Guidebook before."

I open my mouth to tell him that I'm a blue cheetah so back off pal, but all that comes out is a mewl. So **I** can't speak either. Bummer. This day just keeps getting better. The bird reaches down and tries to snap off a bit of the chocolate, this time emerging from the thicket to get a better reach. The boy backs off, hiding the chocolate bar behind his back.

"No, no, Snipe. You can't eat too much chocolate, or you'll be sick. I'm Russell! Can you understand me?"

The bird seems to, because it reaches down and wraps its head around his neck. It must like him after all the chocolate that it's been given. I emerge too, but don't go in for a hug. He's a stranger after all, though definitely **not** a Heartless. Russell laughs before pulling away and stroking the bird on the beak, and me on the head.

"Why don't you come back with me? I have more chocolate in my backpack for you."

The bird caws and picks the boy up by his scarf, turning him in the opposite direction and pushing him forward. I follow suit. The bird might only want food, but I want to know what's going on here. Russell awkwardly pushes through the bushes, which the bird steps over and I squeeze under. Being this small can come in handy sometimes. We eventually come across a clearing with – unexpectedly – and old man tying something to a tree, with a floating house above his head. He's turned away so he doesn't see us.

"I found the Snipe!" Russell declares with gusto.

"Oh, **did** you?" the old man chuckles in a condescending way.

"Are they tall?"

"Oh, yes, they're very tall."

"Do they have a lot of colours?"

"They do indeed."

"Do they like chocolate?"

"Yeah... Chocolate?"

He turns around warily, not really looking like he's going to like what he sees. He doesn't. He yelps in fear, making me worry for his weak heart. He **does** look about eighty.

"What is that thing?!"

"It's a Snipe!" Russell states, as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

"That thing isn't a Snipe!" the old geezer retorts, pulling Russell away. The bird screeches before snatching the boy away and playing with him. It's **definitely** taken a liking to him. After all, never bite the hand that feeds you. The old guy and I watch on in worry, before he realises I'm here and leaps away from me too.

"Another one?!"

"Oh, that one followed me and Kevin back here! He likes chocolate too!"

The bird puts the boy down, screeches at the old man, and moves in to attack. I go to jump in but Russell gets there first. He moves pretty fast for someone with such short legs.

"No, Kevin! It's OK! Mr. Fredrickson is nice."

"Kevin?"

"Yeah! That's the name I just gave him."

"And what about this one? Are you going to name every single creature you come across?" he asks in disgruntlement, signalling at me.

"I don't know about this one... Well, it's a cat, so I'll call him Cat!"

I prefer Sonic so much more. 'Kevin' whacks Fredrickson on the head with his beak. The old man waves his cane at him, which the bird swallows, chokes on, and then spits back up covered in mucus. Fredrickson picks it up using the sleeve of his suit and walks off in a huff.

"Can we keep them, **please?** I'll walk them; I'll change their newspapers-"

"No."

"An explorer is a friend to all, be it a plant or a fish or a tiny mole!"

"That doesn't even rhyme!"

"Yeah it does! Hey, look! Kevin!"

I cast my eyes upwards. Kevin's sitting on the floating house, which I now see is flying on the weight of hundreds of balloons. What is wrong with the laws of physics in this world?! Kevin is busy eating the balloons and popping them in his neck. He comes down after a stern word from the old man and hides behind Russell's back.

"Sheesh... Can you believe this Ellie?" he asks the house. I'm not too sure what to make of that.

"Ellie...? Oh! Hey, Ellie, can I keep the bird and the cat?" Russell also asks the house. I smack my face with a paw. Everyone's gone crazy.

"She says for you to let me!"

"But I told him no! I told **you** no! N-O!"

I growl at him, and Kevin squawks at him. Fredrickson shrugs a backpack on with a cord leading up to the house and shoves another backpack into Russell's hands.

"Leave these two alone and let's get going! We're running out of time."

When the old man's back is turned, Russell starts breaking pieces of chocolate off and placing them on the ground. Kevin follows hungrily, snapping up the slicing as he goes along. Fredrickson and Russell pull the house around by wearing the backpacks and walking, while Russell gets us to follow him. I suppose he's going with what the house said and not the old man.

I sound so deluded.

We end up on what looks like the top of a cliffs. The land is barren and rocky and covered in a thick fog. I can smell the scent of clean running water a few miles away, in the direction we're all heading. I wonder what they're doing here. It's not every day someone takes their house for a walk in a rainforest.

We walk in silence, except for the obvious sounds of Kevin eating the chocolate. Fredrickson gives up on trying to make him go away and reluctantly tolerates his presence. I trot gently at Russell's heels. I can see that his heart is strong, and he's probably going to end up a target for the Heartless, so it's best if I stay near.

"Hey, are you OK out there?"

We freeze. Heartless don't talk.

"Uhh... Hello?" asks Fredrickson, squinting through his glasses. "Oh! Hello, sir! Thank goodness: it's nice to know someone else is up here!"

He starts walking towards a humanoid figure in the distance. I stay on my wares. I'm not wholly convinced.

"I can smell you!" a voice calls out.

"What? You can... smell us?"

"I can smell you!"

Odd for a human. As we get closer our questions are answered in part. It's only a rock structure. Not even a Heartless.

"Hey, you were talking to a **rock.** That one looks like a turtle! And that one looks like a dog!"

Said dog-shaped rock comes bounding forward. It actually **is** a dog – a golden retriever to be specific – with a collar around his neck. His tongue could rival an anteater's. It just lolls all over the place. He immediately bounds over to Russell and begs for a pat on the head.

"Hey, I like dogs!"

"**We have your dog!** Wonder who he belongs to...?"

Russell goes onto prove that he's fully trained by getting him to do tricks like beg and shake his hand. We get a surprise when Russell says:

"Speak!"

"Hi there!"

Oddly enough that dog just spoke. To be honest I'm getting used to all this weird stuff.

"My name is Dug. I have just met you and I **love** you!" he proclaims, jumping up at the old man. "My master made me this collar! He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may talk! **Squirrel!** ... My master is good and smart!"

"It's not possible!"

"Oh, it is, because my master is **smart!**"

Russell starts mucking about with the dials on Dug's collar. I guess that's what's making him talk. He goes through several different languages with the turns of the dial. Spiffy. I should get Amy one for her birthday. Dug notices me, declares me to be a cat, and starts chasing me around barking like there's no tomorrow, and trying to convince me that he only wants to 'smell' me. Like I'm going to believe that. I jump into Russell's arms to protect myself.

"Down, boy! Don't chase Cat like that!"

"Right, because I am looking for a bird! I am a great tracker, and my pack sent me on a special mission, all by **myself!** Have you seen a bird? I want to find one, and I have been on his trail! I am a **great** tracker – did I mention that?"

Enter the bird. Kevin charges over and throws himself on Dug, who seems completely unfazed.

"Hey, that is a **bird!** I have never seen one up close, but this is a **bird!** May I take your bird back to camp as my prisoner?"

"Yeah, take it!" says Fredrickson, jumping on nay opportunity to get rid of Kevin and Dug. "And on the way learn how to bark like a real dog!"

"I can bark!" He barks. "And here's howling." He howls.

"Can we keep him?! Please, please, **please?!**"

"No."

"But it's a **talking dog!**"

"It's just a weird trick or something. We have to get to the falls!"

He drags Russell off, who is holding me, who is followed by Kevin, who is chased after by Dug, pleading with Kevin to be his prisoner. I really don't think he's gonna say yes any time soon. He starts talking weird stuff into his collar, but I ignore him. I'm too busy being carried around by Russell. I live the life of luxury. Much better than traipsing around any old world with Donald and Goofy.

Speaking of any old worlds...

I figure I'm on a different one now. It's too different from the Pride Lands to be the same place. That lead of Chaos Energy I pulled on must have come from here, which is why I had such a rough ride. There has to be a Chaos Emerald around here somewhere. **Finally! **I was beginning to think I'd never get them back!

There's also the conundrum of my form. I'm only like this because of Donald's magic, but he's clearly not here. With my resistance to magic and everything, you'd think I'd have turned back. I suppose the magic in this world must be supporting the spell itself. How polite of it!

We end up walking for **ages.** I'm surprised that old guy can walk for this long. Dug has taken to wrapping himself around Kevin's leg and being dragged along, pleading shamelessly for the bird to be his prisoner.

"Dug! Stop bothering Kevin!" Russell commands.

"That man there said I could take the bird, and I **love** that man there like he is my **master!**"

"I'm **not** your master!"

"I'm warning you once again** bird!**"

"Hey, quit it!"

"At this rate we'll **never** get to the falls."

What a pack. I wonder what's so special about these falls. Russell puts me down so he can try and prise Dug off Kevin, only to be pulled off my Fredrickson. The house crashes into the side of a cliff and one of the windows breaks. The old man isn't happy, to say the least.

"I am **nobody's **master! Got it?! Now, I don't want **you** here, **you** here or **you** here," he proclaims, pointing to Dug, Kevin and me in turn. "I'm **stuck** with you," pointing at Russell. "And if **you** three don't clear out of here by the time I count to three-"

"Oh, a **ball! **Oh boy, oh, boy, a **ball!**"

Dug starts getting exciting, wagging his tail at supersonic speeds. I never noticed that Fredrickson's cane has tennis balls on the end like a DIY suspension system. He takes one of the balls off and throws it into the bushes, followed closely by an overeager Dug. I give chase. Knowing him he'll probably fall off a cliff on the way back.

I find him thrashing about in the greenery, chewing on the ball and slobbering everywhere. I give him a clobber on the head with the Kingdom Key D to knock him out of it. At least **one** of the Keyblades is still listening to me.

"Ow, you **hurt** me, Cat. I'd chase you, but I have to find my master and give him his ball back so he can **throw** it for me again!"

With that... **enlightening** comment he charges off, ball in his mouth. I sniff the air, trying to pick up the humans' scents. I can smell the chocolate clearly from here. Dismissing the Keyblade so I can run faster I set off at breakneck speeds. I pass Dug on the way, still loping about like an idiot. He can take care of himself, I'm sure.

Somehow Fredrickson and Russell managed to make it to the top of hill while I was gone. They move pretty fast for humans! Of course, not nearly as fast as me. Or Kevin and Dug, for that matter, who reappear almost as soon as I get there myself. Fredrickson is **not** impressed, but gives up on trying to chase us off. Like we're going to miss a floating house giving away their position.

It starts raining. **Heavily.** I guess they don't call it a rainforest for nothing. The house makes the world's best umbrella, shielding us from the torrential downpour. I'm just glad I'm so furry, or I'd be really cold. Russell and Fredrickson tie the house down and take their backpacks off. Kevin and Dug end up curled up together. Cute.

I pick a spot right in the middle of the house, next to the fire we managed to make before the rain made it impossible. I wonder where Donald and Goofy are. I hope they find me soon. I should probably look after this lot, first, but I can't wait to get back to my normal hedgehog self.

Morning rises to a distinct lack of Kevin. Fredrickson tries to make out that nothing's amiss. Because we're **really** not going to notice the lack of that brightly-coloured, chocolate-eating, tropical bird. As predicted Russell awakens to a cry of:

"Where's Kevin?! He's wandered off!"

They're so predictable sometimes.

Everyone except Fredrickson gets up and start running around like headless chickens trying to find Kevin. Dug points at a bush, which is stupid, because Russell sees him on the roof of the house. He seems to be hoarding food on the roof. Strange.

"Hey! That's my food!" yell Fredrickson, as if that's going to get his food back. "Get off my roof!"

The faint sound of screeching can be heard in the distance. Kevin responds with a louder, deeper call, his tongue flapping everywhere like a wind sock.

"What's it doing?" asks the old man in a voice that sounds like he doesn't really want to know.

"The bird is calling to her **babies,**" says Dug, as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

"Kevin's a girl?" questions Russell, confused at how something called 'Kevin' could be anything **but** a boy.

"..." says I, not really having much to say on this subject.

Kevin gobbles up as much food as he... I mean **she** can and drops down to say goodbye. Dug says she's been collecting food for her babies. Somehow I don't think they're going to appreciate tinned soup much.

"Kevin's leaving?" Russell says. "But, you promised to protect her! Her babies **need** her. We have to make sure they're together!"

"Sorry, Russell, but we've lost enough time already."

He looks downhearted, watching Kevin run off towards the rocks that she was calling to. That must be where she lives. I bet the property value's below ground. Russell, wiping his face on his sleeve, bends down to my level and whispers in my ear.

"Go watch Kevin, OK, Cat? Make sure she's safe, because I can't be there instead."

I nod and stalk off into the thicket, not wanting to alert Fredrickson to the fact that Russell sent me to tail the bird he finally got rid of. I run into her, cocking her head to the side like she's listening for something. I prick my ears up too.

I can hear dogs.

We exchange looks and leg it back to the circus we've been living in for the past few days, only to find that the dogs have already overrun the place. The circle around the two humans and Dug, growling, collars on their necks similar to Dug's. A large, stoic-looking Doberman inspects the area before growling at Dug.

"Where's the bird?! You said you had the bird!" he asks, in a voice that sounds like he's been on helium. I'd laugh if I could! I need to get Shadow one of those things...

"Oh, yes, as I have **said** that I can see how you would **think** that," Dug tries to explain in a roundabout fashion.

"Well, where is it?"

"Uhh... Tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and I will again have the bird. Yes."

This isn't enough for the squeaky-voiced Doberman. He barks viciously in Dug's face. If a dog did that on my world it'd be put down for being too aggressive. Maybe I shouldn't mention that to his face.

"You **lost** it! Why do I not have a surprised feeling?" Do all dogs talk in such a weird manner? I prefer being a rodent. "Well, at least you have led us to the small mailman and the one who smells of prunes. Master will be most pleased that we have found them. We will ask them many questions. **Walk!**"

Fredrickson tries to object, but he gets pushed along by the dogs in the opposite direction of the falls, the place he's been striving so hard to reach. While they're distracted Kevin and I sneak onto the roof of the house.

I haven't seen any Heartless **yet,** but I'm not taking that risk.

I catch a glimpse of two figures dressed in black on top of a large rock in the distance. I almost miss them through the fog. They're watching us. I feel uncomfortable being around them, like something's... **off.** I shudder.

I try to avoid certain death where possible.


	14. Paradise Falls Part 2

Paradise Falls – Part 2

I really hope this works.

I actually published this chapter a few weeks ago, and I was wondering why I got no reviews. Turns out stupid hadn't put it up! RAWR All my time and effort wasted. Well, you better all review this time around. I was getting worried that it was so awful you didn't bother! And I'm sorry that it took so long in the first place. I lost my DVD of the movie *cries*

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

I settle down and feel the wind through my fur as the house gets dragged along. I can tell it's starting to sink even lower to the ground. It's a pity we're going in the **wrong direction.** Then again, when you're surrounded by a pack of mad dogs, there's not much you can do but obey them.

So, Kevin and I sit tight on the roof of the house while Fredrickson and Russell get steered through the environment. They don't know we're here. Maybe that's for the best – that means the dogs don't know we're here either. You'd have thought they'd smell us, but they're obviously too focused on herding the humans around to have a sniff. Dogs are so dumb sometimes. I like cats better. Good thing I look like this then.

We eventually come to a massive black hole in the side of the gorge. I have no idea what it is, but it doesn't look very inviting. We slowly slide to a halt. I peek over the edge of the roof to see more dogs emerging from the shadows and stalking towards the humans. I **will** fight them if necessary, but somehow I don't think it'll come to that.

A voice orders the dogs to stop.

They all do instantly, and back off a little. There's my sixth sense kicking in again. A silhouette is vaguely visible from in the shadows. I back up a little in case he sees me.

"You came here... in **that?**" questions to unknown voice.

I can hardly believe it myself.

"Uhh... yeah?" notes Fredrickson, not sounding too sure.

"In a **house?** A floating **house?!**"

He sounds more amused than dangerous to me. He starts laughing madly. I guess it** is** kinda funny. An old guy and a boy scout coming all the way to South America in a flying house. That's one to tell the guys back home.

"That's the darnedest thing I've ever seen! You're not after my bird, are ya? Wahahah!"

He's laughing while he says it, so I guess he doesn't mean it. Still, 'his bird' happens to be sitting on said floating house. I don't think he'd find **that** as amusing. All the dogs start laughing, even though they clearly have no idea what they're laughing about. They must figure that if their master – as I presume this guy is – finds it funny, then it must be. Besides, a happy master means more treats! Let's laugh too and keep him happy so he will play with us and rub our bellies.

The stranger pulls himself from the shadows. Strangely enough, he's also an old man. Where do they all keep coming from?! He's in worse shape than **my** old man, though, because he has a walking stick. I hardly see Fredrickson using his, except when he's been walking for a long time or up a steep slope.

"Wait. Are you... Charles Muntz?" says Fredrickson.

"Eh, well, yes," replies the eponymous old man.

"**The** Charles Muntz?!"

Great, now he's deaf as well as cranky. He flies into a whirl of energy, shaking Muntz's hand as hard as he can manage, and rambling on about being 'his biggest fan'. He's a bit old to be saying those kinds of things. Muntz, delighted at the worship, declares that Fredrickson and Russell are now their guests, so they dogs jump on them and lick them all over. Talk about split personalities.

The house starts moving again, a little faster this time. The meeting with his idol has given Fredrickson a slight spring in his step. As we get closer, it is revealed that there's a massive blimp inside the darkness. **How** we missed it, I have no idea. It has the words 'Spirit of Adventure' painted onto the side, though it's peeling a bit. What a cool name. I have to tell Tails all about this when I get back! Oh, Donald and Goofy too.

Fredrickson ties the house to one of the weights on the blimp using the harnesses. The inside opens up to reveal a bright light and a large ramp. Must be like walking into heaven, and I bet it's just as luxurious inside. And here's me, stuck outside with a giant bird on the roof of a floating house. Typical.

The dogs pounce on poor Dug, who tries to follow his friends inside the airship. They put him in the 'cone of shame', which is one of those cones they put on dogs to stop them pulling stitches out. No, I can't imagine he likes it much. The dogs follow that Doberman with the squeaky voice inside, Dug trailing along forlornly. I want to hop down and show that he's not alone in all of this, but I think I'll stay hidden for now.

I'm not a **complete **idiot.

I cast a glance at Kevin. She's sitting sadly in the nook between two sections of the roof, her head resting on her legs. I sidle closer and rub her head with mine, to reassure her. She gives me a look that says 'yeah, right' and gazes off into the distance. She must be missing her babies. I miss my friends, too.

There's a faint call in the distance. Kevin perks up immediately, looking around in all directions on that pivoting head of hers, as if trying to decide if it's real or not. The call sounds again. This time she answers. **Loudly. **I smack my face with a paw. Way to give away our position. I see a flicker of movement in a porthole on the side of the blimp. Muntz is pressed to the glass in admiration, then anger. He turns away sharply.

Fredrickson and Russell must've made a break for it.

That's my cue! I leap down from the roof just in time to see said humans legging it as fast as their old and/or stubby legs can carry them. I charge past them at a reasonable speed so I don't take their skin off and summon the Kingdom Key D. I've been itching for a fight all day!

The dogs follow in hot pursuit of the escaping humans, but stop when they see me. My bright colours and bristling fur startle them. Hooray for odd transformations. A few take blind leaps at me, but I swiftly knock them away. I don't want to attack anything that isn't a Heartless, but I don't have much of a choice.

After seeing I'm aggressive, some back off and others coming running. I fight as well as I can on four legs with my weapon in my mouth, which isn't too bad, actually. Good thing I had all that practise in the Pride Lands. I can hear a lot more dogs coming from behind. I'd manage them if I had a dog and a duck helping me, but on my own, I'm doomed.

Then Dug does something helpful, surprisingly.

He yells at us and points out an escape route, if you can call it that. I give a random dog one last bonk on the head and then break free of the fight. Fredrickson and Russell have already reached Dug and floated down a pit onto safe land. I just jump. Unfortunately, two humans carrying a house can't outrun a pack of angry dogs.

And that's Kevin's cue.

She jumps down and pulls both humans onto her back, sprinting away into the light of the open air. I follow easily. They're not going as fast as they think they are. Not by my standards anyway. The balloons carrying the house begin to burst against the ceiling, and it sinks even lower. Hopefully it'll land on some of the dogs. Seriously, how many did that guy take with him?!

Kevin begins to struggle with the weight, and Russell gets throw off. He's dragged along the ground by his harness, kicking his feet at any dogs that get close enough to be in range. I charge in to pick him up, but a sudden rock slide cuts me off. I have to take a detour. I see Dug standing bravely, the cause of the rock slide that hindered the oncoming pack. I send him a silent thank you. I need to get him a bone for that.

I leap suddenly into bright light, but I resist the urge to shut my eyes. I really don't think watching where I'm going is gonna help any. Kevin makes a sharp turn to avoid the cliff side, sending Russell swinging off the edge. I growl loudly and anxiously, before leaping down a few ledges to his level. He's lucky he has that backpack to shield him from the rocky outskirts that could easily shear off skin. Kevin leaps across boulders to avoid certain death, leaving Russell swinging dangerously between the gaps.

I summon the Kingdom Key D again, take carefully aim, and throw it. The edge of the blade cuts straight through the rope. Russell hangs in midair for a moment like he's grown wings, before falling **fast.** Luckily, I'm much faster. I move underneath him and catch him on my back. My** God, **he weighs a ton! I take a few moments to get my momentum back while Russell grabs onto the fur around my neck. I dismiss the Keyblade in midair. Wow, I didn't know I could do that. Adrenaline sure brings out the best in me.

I speed up, drawing closer to Kevin and Fredrickson, who holds out a hand for Russell to grab. He gets a firm grip and pulls the boy onto the bird, holding the cat in his arms, while the dog follows, chased by other dogs. This makes no sense at all. Kevin screeches to a halt at the edge of a cliff.

There's nowhere to run.

I turn and growl, ready to fight to the death if it saves my friends, but it isn't necessary. **We **might have stopped, but the house hasn't. It carries on across the chasm, dragging us all with it. Luckily, we're all holding on. Even Dug, who's holding onto me. With his **teeth. **As we soar through the air, a dog makes a desperate leap to please his master and bites Kevin's leg hard. She cries loudly and kicks it off into the river below. More dogs follow, either not seeing the edge, or not bothering to jump. I feel bad. I just hope they can all swim.

We land harshly on the other edge of the pit, falling face first in the dirt. I pull myself together quickly. My pulse is still racing from that run! I wanna go for more! My enthusiasm drops quickly when I see Kevin. The poor girl's leg is bleeding from the bite, and she can't walk. Russell drops everything, literally, and pulls out bandages from his mountainous backpack. He wraps them around Kevin's leg. Pretty resourceful for a kid. I'd heal her myself, but magic doesn't exist here. Stupid laws of physics.

Kevin's babies start crying again, but louder and more desperately. They must be hungry, and cold, and tired, and scared. Kevin drags herself up and tries to get closer. She falls instantly. It's heart-wrenching, and there's nothing I can do to help. The look in Kevin's eyes is awful.

"She's hurt real bad," states Russell in that way where he points out the obvious, but now no one has enough gall to chide him for it in this sad moment. "Can't we help her get home?"

Fredrickson looks at the mountains in the distance, then at the fading balloons on his house. He takes a deep breath and agrees. Russell's face lights up so much we won't even need to sun to see where we're going. We all work together to pull Kevin onto the deck of the house, where she sits dejectedly. If she was human, she'd be crying, I'm sure.

The weight of the house **and** the giant tropical bird is too much for two humans, so Russell ties a bit of his harness around my waist so I can help pull. Dug sniffs the air tentatively and points in the direction he thinks we should go, which is the opposite way to where we **ought** to go. Well, at least he's trying.

Together we pull until night begins to fall, shrouding the forest in an eerie black cloak. Dug become our eyes, running ahead and sniffing for any signs of the dogs tracking us down. He confirms that they're leaving us alone, for now at least. I like him better when he's being helpful that when he's trying to tell us jokes that don't make any sense. Cats really **are** smarter than dogs. What do you know?

The trees are really close together as we get further into the forest. We try and keep the house banging off the trunks, but it's difficult, especially when you're my size. Russell looks really downhearted at the way events have turned. He lets go of the rope and walks along, barely pulling the weight of the house behind him.

"You know what, Mr. Fredrickson?" he asked. "The wilderness isn't quite what I expected."

"Yeah? How so?"

He's obviously just humouring the boy, but at least the conversation breaks the unsettling silence that had fallen over us.

"It's kinda... **wild. **I mean, it's not how they made it sound in my book."

Fredrickson snorts.

"Get used to that, kid."

"My dad made it sounds so easy." I prick my ears up. He's never mentioned his family before. "He's really good at camping and how to make fire from rocks and stuff. He used to come to **all** my sweat lodge meetings, and afterwards we'd go get ice cream at Fetton's."

He starts to ramble on about what ice cream they got, and something about counting cars. He suddenly looks pained when his story ends. It makes me wonder what actually happened with his dad.

"It may seem boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."

There's an oddly tense moment when Russell stops speaking. I don't really understand. My memories are filled with exciting moments, like breaking the speed barrier, bringing Eggman crashing down, and sparring with whomever I could annoy enough to want to fight me. I guess we just have different lifestyles. Very different.

The cries of Kevin's babies are getting much louder. Russell pulls back the foliage to reveal the craggy rocks right in front of our noses. We're finally here! Everyone shrugs their harnesses off so Fredrickson can attached them to a tree and keep the house from escaping, while Russell helps Kevin off the porch. Dug and I sniff and scout out the area for any signs of enemies. The area seems to be clear, thankfully.

Kevin's leg seems to have gotten a little better, as she can walk better now, with a little help. Dug gets excited and starts bounding around ecstatically, his energy infecting everyone in the group. Even Fredrickson – who didn't want to be here in the first place – looks pleased as Kevin slowly makes her way up the slope. She even breaks off into a run completely unaided. I turn to see Russell and Fredrickson praising her and pushing her on with their encouragement.

I also see the blimp rising up behind them.

I stop running, staring in a mix of awe and fear. A bright spotlight shines down suddenly from the airship, illuminating Kevin in all her colourful glory. As the blimp gets lower it starts kicking up loads of air; everyone stops and braces themselves so we don't go flying. A net is fired from an unseen cannon, heading straight for Kevin.

I jump in and shove her out of the way. The net catches me in its woven strands and binds me tightly. I'd try and gnaw my way out but I can't move my head enough to get a good shot at it. Another one is fired, capturing Kevin while she's down. And here I was hoping she'd get away in time.

She manages to get to her feet, dragging her off, but gets the net struck on at outcropping rock. Fredrickson and Russell leap into action to try and free the two of us, but I refuse any help. Kevin has children, and is therefore more important than me.

"Get away from my bird!"

Muntz appears from inside the blimp with his pack of mongrel hounds. He smashes a lantern underneath the house, setting it ablaze. I'm hit with a sudden surge of heat from the fire, but the house will undoubtedly be worse off. The balloons very quickly start popping from the intense heat.

Fredrickson abandons the attempt to free Kevin and tries to get the flames under control instead. What the hell is he thinking?! It's just a **house! **In the confusion, Muntz orders his dog to pick up the bird. Some get confused and drag me on board too, even though I'm not necessarily what he wants. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him stuff and mount me, or worse, put me in a **zoo.** They don't call me the 'blue blur' because I pace around in a cage all day!

I turn my head just in time to see Fredrickson dragging the house out of the reach of the flames. Russell and Dug just watch in shock and horror as we're hauled off like baggage. The ramp starts to close as Muntz makes his way up to view his prizes. He grins in satisfaction at Kevin, but frowns at me.

"I didn't ask for this one."

"But, master!" one dog says. "It's such a pretty colour!"

He surveys me for a moment, casting his criticising eye over my ensnared state. I growl at him, baring my teeth. He shrugs nonchalantly.

"Well, the more the better. Lock them up in different cages."

He leaves, probably to go have some tea and scones. A dog reaches up onto a tray and takes a syringe from it, holding it in its drooling jaws. It jabs the tip into Kevin's thighs, making her screech in pain. Her struggling gets less and less until she finally falls still, though her chest still rises and falls, thankfully.

The same dog approaches me with a different needle. I try and kick up a fuss, but a dog wraps its jowls around my neck and tightens. I yelp and stop moving around. Being tranquilised is better than having my neck snapped. The dog rams the needle into my flanks, sending shooting pains up both legs on that side. The dog holding my neck lets go, so I immediately start thrashing around again.

My limbs start to feel heavy and my vision goes blurry. I figure I know there's no point in struggling, and getting my heart beating so fast will only make it happen faster, so I lie still and let the anaesthetic take hold. I yawn and shut my eyes slowly.

Just a long blink...


	15. Paradise Falls Part 3

Paradise Falls – Part 3

Yes, I know I haven't written in a while, but I got no reviews for my last chapter so I didn't feel very inspired to continue. Still, I'm here now. You have no idea how hard it is to write a story while watching the film at the same time. Dear God. Well, we've almost covered all of the worlds now, so we should get into the main bosses soon. Stay tuned.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

I slowly come to.

Sounds arrive first – I can hear the roars of the engines churning away beneath me in their struggle to maintain flight. It deafens me momentarily after my hours of silence. My sight eventually starts to return, but only in blobs of colour. I'm still out of it.

Hang on a minute.

I try to jump to my feet, but my body won't obey yet. The blobs become bars, and the colours become a lush carpet stretching across the prairies of the floor. Those freaking dogs shoved me in a **cell! **No prison can hold Sonic the Hedgehog! Now if I could just get up I'd show those bars who's the boss! Pity my legs are still made of jelly. Sensation is slowly returning to my extremities – I should be up in a few minutes.

I roll my head to the side, catching the light from the window on my fur and sending shards of blue across the floor. I wonder if Donald and Goofy are looking at the same sky? I doubt they're here, though it would be mighty helpful if they were. Well, you know what they say: you wait forever, and then two come along at once.

I focus my eyes on a shape in the distance. Not sure what it is yet, only that it's colourful. The clouds part to let the thingamabob through and I see it for real. It's the house! I promise I'll never tease and old person again if he gets me off this thing. I've had enough bad experiences with flying machines housing my enemies, thank you.

The airship suddenly lurches to one side. We must be turning. I bet Muntz has realised Fredrickson's on his tail, though I doubt he could miss a ship as big as this one just by turning a corner. I slide along the floor and hit the bars of the cage. The spikes of pain are enough to snap me out of my stupor. I gnaw hungrily on the ropes around my ankles and break them off. Now for a bit of a stretch... and I'm good to go!

I glance out the window; Fredrickson's disappeared. Here's hoping Muntz can't see him either. I summon the Kingdom Key D and slice the lock off the door. It swings open silently on its well oiled hinges, so hopefully no one heard that. The door has a dog flap set into it, which is just big enough for me to fit through. Convenient, I think so.

After checking for any canines, I sneak down the hall at a fair speed. I need to find Kevin and make sure she's OK. She's probably locked up somewhere like I was, only with more protection. She's worth more than I am. I swing my Keyblade at a few dogs that get in my way, knocking them out instantly. The less people that know I'm running around the better, though stealth has never been my forte.

I hear screaming from down the hall, and I pick up my pace. I arrive in the hangar just in time to see three planes take off down the ramp and into the air. That can't mean anything good for the house. I look around for something that could help, and catch sight of a spare plane. Just my luck. I would've rather had a bazooka, but I'll make do.

I hop in, relieved to find that they've been built especially for the dogs to fly. Technically I'm a cat, but that's good enough. It's steered by twisting panels where the pedals would be on a normal plane, and I take it the rubber bone is for firing. Back right leg is accelerate, and back left leg is brake. Good thing I can fly the Tornado, or I'd be sunk.

I ease the plane out of its dock and down the ramp. I lean back just before I reach the end and it levels off. Wow: never thought I'd be flying a plane like this. I catch sight of the other planes shooting the balloons on the house, and at a screaming lump hanging down from the bottom. 10 points if you hit the kid, and all that.

Luckily the planes miss and soar straight past Russell. I give chase, winking at Russell on the way past. I don't know if he could see it was me, but if he did then he knows all hope is not lost! I charge the planes head first, catching one by surprise. I call his bluff and we race towards each other at lightning speeds. He chickens out and nose dives down to avoid a collision, giving me an opportunity to shoot him down from behind. The dog ejects just in time and floats slowly down through the cloud layer. That's a long way to travel by parachute.

One down: two to go.

The airship suddenly starts to rock to the side. The driver must be drunk. Or maybe one of the dogs. Same driving skill, really. I snap my attention away from the fiasco no doubt taking place over there and focus on the dogs. They've caught on to me, and barrel roll out of the way of my fire. What am I even shooting? Kibbles?!

I nose dive to avoid the fire from one of the planes, and the stray ammunition collides with the balloons, bursting some of them. The house dips dangerously in the air. I gulp and try to steer the fight away from the house, and Russell. Someone old and wrinkly shouts from the side of the ship. Fredrickson and Kevin are stupidly trying to climb up a vertical wall, with Muntz hot on their tails. It's never easy, is it?

While Russell pulls himself up the cord with renewed vigour, I focus on the planes. I clip the wings of one and it veers around dangerously before colliding with the side of the ship. The whole thing leans to the side, luckily allowing an easier climb for Kevin and Fredrickson. The last plane flies head first at me, like I did to the first one I took down. We charge at each other: he'll probably pull up at the last minute.

But he doesn't.

Both planes smash together in a massive fireball. I chuck myself out at the last minute, cursing myself for not grabbing a parachute. I land on the side of the blimp, digging my claws into the plastic shell. I scrape down the side before eventually coming to a stop. I growl to myself and force myself up the cliff, like Russell did with the cord. Hanging several thousand feet in the air can really give you some determination.

I reach the top and collapse in an exhausted blue heap in time to see Fredrickson and Kevin crest the top of the ship. He's probably gonna need a hip replacement after all of this. Dug jumps out of a vent, and Russell dips in towards the ship on the house. Everyone makes a mad dash towards the house; Fredrickson pushes the injured Kevin onto the porch first so she's safe. Dug and Fredrickson climb on next, but I'm too tired to make the journey fast enough. I'm gonna get left behind.

A gunshot rings out and a ton of balloons are snapped free of the house. The whole thing crashes to the top of the ship with a noise that sounds like breaking glass. Actually, half the windows look broken anyway. What on Earth was Fredrickson up to before he got here?! The house begins to slide down the side of the airship, while Fredrickson is thrown out and lands hard on his back. I feel his pain.

Muntz with a shotgun stalks towards the downed man with surprising speed while the house sinks further and further out of reach. In an attempt to buy Fredrickson some time I attach myself to Muntz's ankle with my** teeth. **He screeches and shakes his leg around, but I don't give in. He eventually smacks me over the head with the butt of his gun, and raises it to shoot me straight through the head. I smirk as much as my jowls will allow and burst out of reach before the bullet can even hit the ground where I was a few moments ago.

I use my speed to catch up with the house – the cord that Russell was hanging onto before is still trailing across the plastic. I summon the Kingdom Key D and shove it into the roof of the ship, wrapping the cord around it and pulling **hard.** The house suddenly stops moving: I jammed that Keyblade in pretty far, and I doubt it's gonna come loose any time soon. It gives Fredrickson enough time to catch up with me, and we pull together.

The house, slowed in its getaway, sinks to the wing, which is thankfully a lot flatter. It still edges towards the precipice, spurred on my it's momentum until it teeters dangerously over thin air. Russell makes to get off the house, but a shot from the gun is enough to make all three passengers retreat back inside. Muntz walks straight past us, not paying us much attention. We're too busy trying to hold the house up to be much of a problem to him.

It's the people **inside** that have his bird.

Fredrickson yells: "Russell! Hang on, I'm coming!" to the frightened boy inside, who has slammed the door in Muntz's face and is now taking shelter in the living room. We can see him, Dug and Kevin through the window, partly obscured by the cords that keep the balloons attached. Fredrickson reaches into his pocket and holds a bar of chocolate above his head like a trophy, just in time for Muntz getting into the house. Kevin charges straight through the window to claim her prize, knocking the gun out of Muntz's hand. The three of them land safely on the wind of the plane as the house drifts away, while Muntz tries to follow.

His foot gets caught on the strings.

He hangs in mid air for a moment, and I fear that he'll somehow make it back to the plane, but he doesn't. His suspension turns into a swan dive as he falls screaming through the clouds. At least this way we won't have to see the mess when he hits the ground. For now we all collapse to the floor, panting with exhaustion. Today really isn't my day.

I dismiss the Kingdom Key D, which is still buried in the side of the wing. While Russell, Kevin, Dug and I all clamber over each other for hugs, Fredrickson watches his house drift away. It's sad to see it go after all we've done it get it to the falls. We never even got there.

"Sorry about you house, Mr. Fredrickson," Russell says softly, having untangled himself from the happy animals.

"You know," Fredrickson replies. "It's just a house."

We're clearly of the same opinion, for once. Why do you think I don't have one? Tails' house is fine for me. Speaking of which, I wonder how he's doing. I reckon I'll find out soon, as we take control of the airship and **finally **get Kevin home. She has three chicks, all of which are the brightest little bundles of fluff I've ever seen. If only they'd stop nipping people, they'd be model children.

I smile and sneak off while they aren't paying attention. Saying goodbye was never my thing, and those two humans aren't gonna be staying in this place for long. I wonder how big this world is? Considering their appearances and equipment, they're not from this jungle. It must stretch on as big as mine, in which case they'll be going home. I wish them luck, if I could speak enough to tell them that.

Once I'm a good enough distance from the group I stop for a rest. All this running around has made me really tired. My ears prick up at the sound of a waterfall. I jump to my feet and leg it in the direction. Could it really be...?

It is.

Paradise falls looms above my head, cascading down with a crushing force. The water droplets make a faint rainbow across the pool below. If I look up I can almost see a house resting on the rocks above, but when I blink it's gone. My heart flutters at the sight, and I know that this is where I needed to be all along.

The strength of the waterfall makes my back tingle. I pull out the Chaos Emerald and rest it on the ground, seeing as I have no hands to hold it with. A light grows from within its depths, filling out and blossoming until the whole gem glows with green light. Somehow being here must have regenerated the emerald. I glance up at the waterfall and I vaguely see a keyhole shape behind the water.

It must be this world's keyhole – it restored the emerald. I wonder why it hasn't fully revealed itself to me? This mustn't be the right time. After all, I haven't seen any Heartless around. I shrug and take the Chaos Emerald in my hands and focus on Donald and Goofy. They could've gone anywhere, so if I think of the Pride Lands I'll be taken there and might miss them. The warmth of the Chaos Energy washes over me lovingly, and I leave this world behind.


	16. Tread Not So Softly

Tread Not So Softly

This chapter is **not** what you're all expecting,TRUST ME! We have the plot moving on, we have the situation at Disney Castle explained, and we have the emergence of the main bad guy, finally! And yes, the Nobody at the end is based on me. There will be hilarity and epic fourth-wall breakage whenever she's around. And maybe I'll even insult some Irish people. You'll just have to wait and see! Also, if you get the references to Bayonetta and Over the Hedge, then you're awesome.

And it's almost my sixteen birthday! I'll be old enough to... do some things. Now I need a girlfriend I'll be all set. Requests will not be accepted. XD

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

I land in a mangled heap on the ground. Looks like I landed in the right place. Go me! I forgot how hot this place was; still, Paradise Falls tops this world on humidity. My fur is **never** gonna recover from that. I stand up and shake the dust out of my blue pelt that had clung to me when I smashed into the ground. I've really gotta work on landing on my feet. I thought cats were supposed to do that anyway!

I peek a look around to figure out where I Chaos Controlled to this time. I'm in a small cave with a tree growing up in the back. A lion is carved into the bark, along with three other figures that resemble Donald, Goofy and some other lion. I wonder which one is Simba? Ah, who cares.

A stick collides sharply with my skull and I fall to the floor. I'm gonna devour whoever did that, the sneak. I growl at a baboon who's standing over me threateningly. I swish my tail angrily, before picking myself up. I'm too tired to fight now.

"Please, I'm too tired to fight now," I inform him... What? He wasn't going to read my thoughts. "Do you know where Simba is?"

He lowers his stick, staring at me like I've got a mackerel as a hat. He suddenly bursts out laughing and dances around a bit.

"Ah!" he exclaims! "You're de one!"

"Uhh..." I reply. I'm not following this at all.

"De one!" he repeats, like I haven't heard him. "You're gonna do great things, child. It has been written! Hahaha!"

I cock my head to one side. The crazy baboon waves his hand as if to coax me forward.

"Come! Rafiki will show you to Simba!"

That's more like it. The baboon takes me outside, and I wince as the sun burns my retinas. He leads me up the pointy bit of Pride Rock that extends over the lion's den like a claw. I can vaguely see silhouettes hovering against the blinding sun. Lion-shaped silhouettes.

"Hey, guys!" I yell. "Did 'ya miss me?"

The silhouettes turn in my direction: two of them throw themselves at me. The three of us collapse in a heap of laughter. All my breath is knocked out of me, but I don't care!

"Nice to see you guys too."

"We thought you were **dead!**" Donald squawks. "Don't **ever** do that to us again!"

The rest of the conversation is swallowed up by the joy at the reunion. Not that I'm complaining: it's great to see my friends again. I eventually have to detangle myself from the mass of happiness.

"Sorry, guys, but we'll have to continue this later," I say.

The duck and dog sort themselves out and look slightly meek. I turn to see Simba and Kiara on the edge of the rock. They both look pleased to see me alive.

"I'd like to catch up on old times," I say. "But I really need to know where the Keyhole is. So tell me. Now."

Simba shakes his head.

"I really don't know what or where that is. Although, when Sora was here he used the Keyblades on the sky and something happened."

"Really..."

I look at the sky. It's completely cloudless, and I can see Albatrosses flying through the endless blue, shrieking to each other. No Keyhole. I raise an eyebrow at Simba. He shrugs.

"Well that was helpful..."

"Gawrsh, doesn't the Keyblade make Keyholes appear?" Goofy notes.

Good point. I wonder if I can summon the Kingdom Key again. I try to feel for its presence beyond the simple boundaries of flesh and blood. I still haven't got all that used to this yet. To my relief the Keyblade pops into existence between my jaws. I never noticed how much I missed it: it has a completely different feel to the other one.

Luckily, the presence of the key does activate the Keyhole after all. Clouds suddenly burst into the sky from nowhere, covering the sky and taking the heat off my skin. The clouds have an odd purple tint to them that makes them look ghostly and ethereal. That's no coincidence.

The clouds part where the sun was to reveal a bright white Keyhole in the sky. I have to turn sideways to point the teeth at the Keyhole, but it doesn't change the effect. A radiant beam shoots out the tip and blasts straight through the center. The clouds around the Keyhole collapse inwards with the force of the lock and dissipate quickly, revealing the pure sky again. I dismiss the Keyblade so I can talk without drooling everywhere.

"Well, there's no need to worry about the Heartless now," I say to Simba and Kiara. "They can't get to the heart of the world now."

I don't think they understand what that means, but they still look relieved that the threat of the Heartless has diminished.

"Does this mean that you're leaving?" Kiara asks.

We nod.

"We should be back, though, just to check the whole thing hasn't gone to pot while we were gone," I say with a smirk. "Maybe I'll even bring Sora along with me."

Simba smiled widely.

"That would be great. Stay safe, you three."

"I can't promise anything, but we'll try!"

We all laugh. To be honest, I'm looking forward to being bipedal again.

Elsewhere...

King Mickey tore through the hollow halls of the castle. A dim grey light shone through the broken windows, their shards scattered across the floor. A lot of the statues were missing arms or heads, and some lay discarded against the wall, their faces smashed in by brute force. The castle had descended badly into disaster.

He had no Keyblade anymore. No scientist could tell him why or where it had gone, and without its light there was no way to force off the Heartless once their ranks had spilled over the castle walls like a plague of darkness. Most of the citizens had been safely evacuated to the Hall of the Cornerstone. Some had vanished, never to be seen again. Some had joined the evil that had forced them into hiding.

King Mickey was just relieved that he'd rescued Queen Minnie.

With no means of protection, and no way of leaving the world, they were trapped in a living nightmare. Some kind of grey barrier filled the sky, shunning clouds and wind until everything lay silent, as if frozen by the icy hand of whatever evil had caused this. And it was his job as King to right the wrongs that was threatening the lives of his people, and of his wife.

No Heartless had attacked him yet, and it was worrying him. His Heart should shine brightly in this darkness, and there was no way the Heartless would turn down a chance of adding such a powerful entity to their ranks. Their absence made the hairs down his neck stand on end in fear, and his tail tingle ominously.

He flattened himself up against the castle doors, towering above his silent figure. Taking a deep breath, he leaned slowly towards the door, expecting a claw or a head come lurching at him. None came. Instead, he was greeted with a frightening and curious sight.

The Courtyard beyond the door, which was once thriving with greenery, was grey and dying under the dull sun. The pathway was cracked and crumbling with neglect. Upon it lay the bodies of tens of Heartless, thrown around like ragdolls. He gulped at the ease at which the monsters had been dealt with.

Those responsible were also present. Tall, thin Nobodies towered above the ground, their stick legs reaching into the air, and their arms just as long, extending almost down to the ground and hanging limply. Upon their head lay what looked like holy robes, like some sort of twisted nun. They had no faces, but their exaggerated torsos carried the Nobody symbol. King Mickey had never seen Nobodies like them before.

But more worrying was the figure in the center.

It was cloaked in a black robe that hung down to the floor. The zip was unfastened at its waist, instead of at the knees, and its boots had large heels that elevated it to normal height. He couldn't imagine how short it was without the heels to boost it above its regular height. It was facing away from him, its finger in its hood. He couldn't see what it was doing from here, but he saw it look at its finger in disgust and flick something away. Did it really just...?

He took an unsteady breath and stepped out from behind the doors.

The Nobodies noticed his presence immediately: their hidden mouths that extended right behind their heads opened and hissed at him. They made to walk towards him, their long legs slowing them down. Unfortunately, he knew from past experience that if an enemy was slow, it was usually strong to make up for it. The Nobody in the black coat didn't seem to know he was there, until it clicked his fingers.

The other Nobodies immediately backed off. King Mickey stood up as tall as his small legs would allow and called out with as much authority as he could muster in these dark times.

"And who are you?!"

The clocked figure turned around to look at him. Its face was hidden beneath the hood, but the way it held itself seemed to indicate a childish demeanour, looking at him over its shoulder in interest. It finish turning around, before waving at him.

"Ah, here is our next victim! What's up? Can I say: this place is huge. Someone must have been compensating for something."

He clenched his fingers together, before repeating himself with an angrier tone.

"I **said,** who are you?!" he growled.

"Who, me?" the Nobody asked. "I'm no one special. Just someone looking for someone else."

"Well, I'm sure they aren't here, so why don't you just get out?"

"I can't do that. You see," the figure said, removing its hood. "You're the one I'm looking for."

King Mickey was thrown off by the appearance of the Nobody. It was a young girl, about fifteen, with the most startling orange hair in two low, spiky buns and grey eyes he'd ever seen. She blinked at his stare.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

She started laughing, which just made him feel even more confused.

"But, I thought we'd gotten rid of you stupid Organization XIII!" he yelled.

"Technically, you did. I'm the next generation – one with more style and hilarity, anyway. It's like being smart **and** good looking at the same time!"

She pulled a pose and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean, there isn't much I could do with this uniform, but hey, I tried."

She returned to a more comfortable pose, leaning on one leg and crossing her arms.

"Now, back to what I wanted. Thing is, I've got a plan that's so good you could use it to read at night! But then I thought that this is so good, it will need a blend of violence and subtlety to pull off. Maybe even some extreme explosives. But we're so poor we can't afford any rockets, so I said to myself 'today sucks so bad it's beginning to look like the epilogue of Harry Potter 7!' And then I thought: let's capture this place and put it on EBay! We'll get enough Munny to buy some nuclear weapons and blow you all out of the sky!"

"... What?"

"I know: it's like the author is on crack or something. It's really spoiling the mood."

King Mickey just felt confused. He thought Organization XII was supposed to be evil, but this one was just a joke.

"Dammit, now we'll have to go back to square one!" she said exasperatedly. "Ah well, since we're here, we're gonna take your Keyblade. So pass it over now and we'll only mortally wound you instead of kill you."

She held her hands out and beckoned for King Mickey to give her what he wanted.

"I'm not giving such a powerful weapon to the likes of you!"

And he flew forward at the mysterious Nobody, who only watched him coming with an eternal smile on her face.

* * *

I've just insulted so many people with that comment on Harry Potter, haven't I? And don't forget to check out the poll on my profile!


	17. Out of the Shadows

Out of the Shadows

I have no idea why this chapter took me so long to write. I just never felt like I was doing it any justice! And this is instead of maths homework. I have no regrets! Just like Janey Cutler from Britain's Got Talent 2010!

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

The Courtyard is possibly in a worse state that it was before. Some of the shrubbery has been torn up and tossed around, and the ground has a few more cracks than it had previously. Among the mess is King Mickey, near to passing out on the ground. No wounds are visible, but he can barely move anymore.

The Nobody has been killing him from the inside out.

The eponymous Nobody looks a bit out of breath, but is altogether unhurt. She straightens up and reties one of her bunches, which had come loose.

"Fancy attacking a Nobody with no weapon," she says. "I like your style."

A Corridor of Darkness opens up next to her, corroding the area with the darkness that spews from its depths. It retreats to reveal a tall figure in the Organization XIII uniform. King Mickey despairs: one was bad enough.

"The Keyblade is nowhere in the castle," the new figure states icily.

Another Nobody jolts into existence, joining the rapidly growing group of husks.

"Nothing outside the castle either."

"Hmm," the female Nobody ponders to herself. "So, it wasn't that you **wouldn't** give me the Keyblade, it was that you **couldn't** 'cause you don't have it."

Damn; he'd been found out. The ginger Nobody clicks her fingers and the nun-like Nobodies grab King Mickey around the wrists and pull him to his feet, restraining him so he can't cause any more bother.

"Alright you," the ginger Nobody says forcefully. "Tell me where the big ass key is."

Mickey simply shakes his head. He feels too tired to talk, and his lungs hurt. He has no idea what the young Nobody has done to him, but once he was able to move again he'd repay her in full. For the time being, it's all he can do to collect information that would help him fight her.

"... Who are you?" he asks breathlessly.

"You asked that already, but since you asked so nicely I'll tell you anyway!" the young Nobody replies with a grin that is almost genuine.

The taller of the two anonymous Nobodies leans in and whispers something that King Mickey can't here. Whatever was said, the shorter Nobody doesn't like it.

"Bog off!" she yells. "Don't tell me how to run this joint!"

The now humbled Nobody backs off obediently. King Mickey is impressed: this one instils more fear within the ranks than Xemnas, even if he frightened more people outside the Organization than her.

"Now, where was I?" she says, returning her attention to the fallen King. "Oh, right, I was being clichéd! Well, after you ruthlessly murdered the former Organization XIII and practically **demolished** the Castle That Never Was, I showed up and decided to reform the team, only more democratically. After all, democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be. Like you, for example."

She clicks her fingers and the Nobodies let him go. Now he'd had a chance to recover he can stand by himself, and looks a bit less pathetic.

"We call ourselves Neo-Organization XII," she says, more serious now. "And we're going to change the world."

"Are you really?"

The Nobody looks to see who'd said that to her. A dog towers over her, having snuck up from behind by some miracle of nature. He smirks at her, hands on his hips, like she wasn't anything to worry about. The Nobody wrinkles her nose and takes several steps back.

"You smell."

This statement infuriates the goliath, something King Mickey had been trying to do for years.

"How dare you talk to the mighty Pete that way!" he yells.

The Nobody, unfazed by this new development, waves her hands and the other two Nobodies vanish in a blur of darkness.

"Mighty Pete, eh?" she confronts him. "What's so mighty about you? I can tell it isn't your brain power..."

Pete growls and charged at the Nobody, who doesn't even flinch. Whether it's because Nobodies can't feel fear, or because she has something up her sleeve, King Mickey can't tell.

It was the second.

Pete is abruptly stopped in his tracks by twelve Nobodies holding him back. They leave no room for movement as they restrain all of his limbs efficiently and without hesitation. Pete looks a bit taken aback.

"You do realise that the point of calling ourselves 'Neo-Organization XIII' is that there isn't just me."

Hundreds of Nobodies line the castle walls, peering over the ramparts, or from within the castle itself. They all stare and hiss at the people below; King Mickey's heart drops into his stomach. There isn't anything he can do without his Keyblade; is the castle doomed?

The female Nobody raises her hood up over her head, obscuring the bright hair that had made her recognizable. The other Nobodies clearly take this as a cue for something and, with a great deal of effort, throw Pete backwards and into a wall.

"Something's coming," the leader of Neo-organization XIII notes. "Ibrux and Chatterlox – take the Dusks and fortify the shield. Charalex and Claxer – make another round of the castle and RTC. Kalixey and Rogxegia – RTC and make me some chips. I'm starving. The rest of us will stay here and cause hilarity to happen."

Six of the thirteen Nobodies vanish to obey her orders, no matter how obscure they are. She points at Pete in a warning pose.

"You reek of the Heartless, so of you make one more move without me telling you too I'll take your head off."

Pete looks too scared of the massive throngs of Nobody to disobey.

The screen is interrupted by a duck, dog and hedgehog bursting in from the Gummi Hangar under the castle. They almost charge into a few of the Neo-Organization XIII members in their hasty entrance but manage to avoid falling head over heels across the floor. They right themselves, but freeze at the sight of the enemies before them.

"... What the hell?"

We touch down in Disney Castle a few minutes later than I wish we had. After landing in Traverse Town and receiving the news that this world was under attack, Donald, Goofy and I had legged it over here as fast as the Gummi Ship would take us. Getting through the force field was a bit of a squeeze, but we managed it. I'm not going to question how.

I've never been to this word before, but I'm sure it isn't supposed to look like Chuck Norris has attacked it with a wrecking ball. There are bits of metal and machinery everywhere, and a lot of the pathways have collapsed. The hangar still works, though, and we manage to land the ship without too many scratches. Besides, this whole this is made of gummi blocks so it'd probably just bounce around if we hit something.

The three of us get off the ship and try not to fall over the debris that litters the floor. Donald and Goofy look considerably depressed.

"We're too late," Donald muses mournfully. "It isn't supposed to be like this."

I'm about to say something encouraging and sensitive back when a massive crash pierces the air. Damn, now I lost my train of thought! The three of us move together without exchanging words, and charge up the stairs to a doorway. It's slightly ajar, and I can see a grey sky filtering through the crack.

Without hesitating we burst through the doorway and into the courtyard outside. I'd have a better look at the area if I wasn't so busy trying not to mow down this guy I nearly ran into. He, or she, is wearing a long black cloak with the hood obscuring the face. Wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley.

Nor his friends.

A whole bunch of freaks in black cloaks fill the courtyard, which looks more like a landfill site than anything else. None of them look very friendly, or like Heartless. Too human. Now that I think about it, the one I almost fell into has really high heels on and a curvy figure. Maybe he's actually a she. My bad.

We back off **nice** and slowly. I'd rather avoid a fight, thank you. There's about six of them, if you don't count the masses of Nobodies lining the castle walls. Strange; this is the first time I've seen them since I was at Yen Sid's crib. Why now?

Goofy gasps in horror and run off behind me. Donald follow him, but I keep my eyes on the black figures. They seem to be content with standing there and watching us. What are they waiting for? I can take them all on blindfolded!

Well, perhaps not if they're the cause of all the damage to this place. I don't know if I'd survive the same treatment.

I flick my eyes off to the side to see Donald and Goofy crouching by a fallen figure. Donald is casting healing magic on it. I'd bet my whole life's savings that these geezer are responsible.

"Enough of this."

The cloaked figure I bulldozed clicks her fingers and a few Nobodies hop down off the castle walls and attempt to subdue me. These guys don't do me any justice: two Keyblades is more than enough to deal with these pathetic minions. The leader of the group, if my analysis is correct, seems to be intrigued by the appearance of the Keyblades.

"Well," she says, in a voice that is clearly feminine. "That explains where they went."

"Please allow me to take them off this creature," one dude offers, making his or her way over to me. One on one is better than one on seven.

"Don't even think about it," the leader warns. "I've had a brilliant idea that proves just why I'm the leader and not the one who cleans the toilets! We're going to RTC and formulate a plan!"

She clicks her fingers and a swirling mass of darkness appears behind her. The other six cloaked figures leg it through and disappear within its depths. The mere sight of it makes my joints ache. The leader is about to vanish when I try and stop her for a fair fight.

"Don't run away, you coward," I yell. "Fight me!"

The figure truns back around and looks at me from beneath her hood.

"We're not running away: we're advancing in a different direction! Besides, this isn't goodbye. Just 'see you later.'" She turns her attention to the Nobodies who stoically await her orders. "Sink this world – there's nothing left here for us!"

And with that she leaves.

Crap.

I dismiss the Keyblades once the Nobodies skulk off behind the walls. We'd better move quickly if this world is about to be lost, and I have no inkling as to where the Keyhole might be. Abandon ship, says I! I run back to Donald and Goofy in time to a massive tremor that shakes right through the ground and up the walls. I almost fall over, except years of running at high speeds have given me excellent balance.

Donald and Goofy are at the side of an unconscious mouse in regal robes. Big black ears...? I've seen them before, but where? You know what, I can think about this later. Right now we've got to get him out of here before the whole place collapses into darkness.

"C'mon guys," I yell over the sound of the walls collapsing. "We've gotta move!"

Goofy picks the mouse up and carries him on his back, being the strongest of us three. We flee down beneath the courtyard and into the hangar. Several more earthquake send us flying, the footpath breaking away and falling into the darkness that seems to be pulsating beneath us.

This world was going to meet the same fate that mine did.

Without another moment's pause we leap into the gummi ship and take off hurriedly. It's a bit of a rough ride, what with the world collapsing around us, but at least the barrier is down. We race out of the world and into empty space in time to see the world become engulfed by darkness. It squelches for a few moments before it contracts in upon itself, digesting Disney Castle along with it.


	18. Internal Struggles

Internal Struggles

How long has it been? Too long, reckons me. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I told you I'd get back to that book! And to the prophesy too, which will be in more detail in the next chapter, when it eventually comes around. Man, I need a life. I've had to force myself to write this, so I'm sorry if it isn't up to scratch. Exams, you know.

So, in the future we'll be pulling a traditional Kingdom Hearts move and revisiting all of the worlds, and one extra one, which my friends blackmailed me into including.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

* * *

King Mickey lies on the bed, a look a pain etched across his face. Aerith is rubbing a dripped towel on his forehead to sooth a fever that has sprung up. I lean against a wall with dodgy wallpaper, while Donald and Goofy pace around the small room. Cid's too busy fixing the dents in the Gummi Ship that we acquired when Disney Castle collapsed to be here, Yuffie is out getting medicine, and who knows or cares where Leon is.

When we arrived back at Traverse Town with the King in our arms, we got a welcome that can't really be described. People were happy we were safe, upset that the King was hurt, and maybe a bit hungry, or was that just me? Regardless of whether anyone had eaten or not, we'd immediately moved him to the empty house where I also woke up in. People seem to wake up in that house a lot.

Aerith had been appalled when she'd looked over him. She'd said he was injured, but the marks that she could see would have been a few scraped and bruises. Nothing severe enough to incapacitate him. The damage was on the **inside.** The thought made me shiver. Good thing Eggman isn't here – he'd have loved to have figured out how to do that to me.

So I rest my weight against the wall while he groans slightly in his slumber. He'll probably feel worse when we tell him his world's gone to pot. I know how that feels. Poor Donald and Goofy must be even worse off, having both their world disappear and their King in critical condition.

That chick in the black coat is asking for a hiding.

We're distracted by the Ming opening his eyes. Donald and Goofy charge over, but resist the urge to crush him in a bear hug. He groans and sits up slowly, rubbing his head with one hand and glancing around in confusion.

"...Where am I?" he asks hesitantly, like he doesn't really want to know.

"We're on Traverse Town," Donald explains. "Thank goodness you're awake! We were starting to worry you might not..."

They're overcome with their desire to smother the King and do just that. He doesn't seem too bothered – more happy at the fact that he still has all four limbs attached. I watch with amusement in the corner. I've never been a 'hugging' person: that job goes to Amy every day of the week and sometimes on weekends. Aerith smiles softly at the show of affection and shakes her head.

When they finally back of to let the poor mouse breathe, he notices me. I nod and give him a small wave, pondering over where I've seen him before I charged in on him getting his butt kicking in front of an audience. He smiles to himself, like he's suddenly remembered where he parked the car and is oblivious to the fact that the car, the car park and the whole mall have been swallowed by the ineffably pungent forces of darkness. I know how that feels.

"Oh, your majesty," Goofy says. "This is Sonic." He turns to me. "Please me nice."

I snort and stand up straight. Then it twigs. I know where I've seen that head before!

"In that place, with the mosaics and the creepy rubber thing!" I exclaim. "You saved me! What were you doing in my dream?"

The King blinks at me before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"It's a long story... one which should wait until we gain some lost ground."

I groan and flop into a chair in a sulk. He turns his focus back to Donald and Goofy.

"What happened to the castle?"

They exchange defeated looks. I think the Ming gets the idea, because he silently puts his head in his hands. I feel bad for him – my world's gone too, except someone's already popped back up. I'm about to say something encouraging when Yuffie storms into the room carrying an armful of potions.

"Do you know how expensive these were?" she rages. "Someone's gotta pay me back for this. Oh, hello, your majesty."

She tosses the potions onto the bedside cabinet and collapses into a chair. The King removes his hands, but hasn't been crying like I thought he would. Way to be strong! I like him already.

"Thank you, but it'll have to wait. I have more important things to talk about." He turns to me. "Do you have the Keyblade?"

"I have both," I answer. The King doesn't look impressed.

"That only makes things more difficult. Have you been sealing the worlds?"

We nod. He now looks somewhat relieved.

"I suppose that is a start, but I fear for the other worlds now that the Nobodies have revealed themselves again. And I was hoping they'd all been wiped out..."

I have a very vague idea of what a Nobody is, but not enough to warrant a legitimate point in this conversation, so I just pretend like I know what he's talking about. I have a lot of practise, believe me.

"First the Heartless, and now the Nobodies..." Donald states dejectedly.

"... I thought the Nobodies were white things," I point out. "Not humanoid and wearing black coats."

"One moment, please," he says to me. Turning to Donald, he asks: "Did Yen Sid give you a book?"

"Uh-huh."

"If you wouldn't mind."

He salute and whirls through the doorway back to the Gummi Ship. King Mickey turns back to me.

"Did Yen Sid tell you about the Organization?" I nod. "Well, there used to be an Organization made of thirteen very powerful Nobodies with human forms. It seems like they've been reformed with new members, and I'd bet anything they're trying to achieve the same goal."

"And what might that be?" I ask. Man, I feel like a moron.

"Kingdom Hearts," says King Mickey, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, and shame on me for not knowing. "The heart of everything. If they get the power of Kingdom hearts they could conquer every world that exists, or destroy them all. It depends on what this new bunch want."

He shakes his head.

"The one who attacked me... she took her hood off and I saw her face. I've been such a fool."

Uhh... right. He catches my confused look.

"She's only been our newest cleaner at the castle! I guess that's how she knew the area so well and why the siege went so perfectly."

"Did you get her name?" I ask. "You know... maybe we can ask around..."

He nods.

"Her name was Naxann. Perhaps the 'x' should've warned me, but I got lenient in our security after I thought we'd won the last battle against Organization XIII. Well, it's too late to do anything now," he says, with a little bit more pep in his voice. "We should focus on making things right."

I nod enthusiastically. Donald bursts back in with the book Yen Sid shoved on me when I paid him that little visit. He takes a quick breather before handing the book to his King, who observes the cover with a mix of awe and relief.

"Perfect," he states to himself. Realising we're all still here and not taking a coffee break, he addresses us: "This is a compilation of the Ansem Reports that Sora found a few years ago. Yen Sid was having them bound together for me. Perhaps this will help us predict what this new Organization will do next."

All the talking seems to have taken a lot out of him, because he leans back on the pillow with sleepy eyes.

"A fairy used to live in Disney Castle before it was stolen by the Heartless. She prophesised that a one whose fur was the sea, and eyes the land appear and would connect light and dark together and end all feuds, in her words. She fled to Yen Sid's castle when the Nobodies started flooding over the walls, and should still be there. I'd recommend a visit."

The three of us nod. Goofy pats the bed.

"Don't worry, your Majesty, we'll stop this before you know it."

He smiles to himself and passes out. Aerith reapplies the wet towel to his forehead, and looks at us.

"He'll be fine," she says sweetly. "He just needs some rest. Go and see this fairy before she moves again."

Seems like a good plan. To infinity and beyond!

Oh man, that was so lame.


End file.
